Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 25, NWS Cleveland, OH

July 28, 2002Crawford County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this tornado warning at Jul 28, 2002, 6:06 PM EDT for Crawford County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 24 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Jul 28, 2002, 6:06 PM EDT (22:06 UTC)
Expired: Jul 28, 2002, 6:30 PM EDT
In force: 24 min
Issued by: NWS Cleveland, OH
Area: Whole counties

County Crawford County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:09 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 28, 6:20 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Meadville, PA	Thunderstorm winds downed two large trees and several limbs.
Jul 28, 6:20 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Blooming Vly, PA	Thunderstorm winds downed numerous trees and limbs.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jul 28, 2:50 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 142 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 1271 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -37 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 857 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 123 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 119 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.6
Supercell composite: 4.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

245 
WFUS51 KCLE 282206
TORCLE
PAC039-282230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
606 PM EDT SUN JUL 28 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CRAWFORD COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA...

* UNTIL 630 PM EDT

* AT 606 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 17 MILES
  NORTHWEST OF TITUSVILLE...OR ABOUT 13 MILES NORTHEAST OF
  MEADVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
  TITUSVILLE

THIS WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING PREVIOUSLY
ISSUED FOR THE WARNED AREA.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Cleveland, OH issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 28, 1:11 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Erie	64 min
Jul 28, 3:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Crawford	64 min
Jul 28, 5:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Erie	55 min
Jul 28, 5:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Crawford	60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes in 2002

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.