Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 100, NWS State College, PA

July 2, 2002Cambria County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 2, 2002, 4:48 PM EDT for Cambria County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 57 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 2, 2002, 4:48 PM EDT (20:48 UTC)
Expired
Jul 2, 2002, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Cambria County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:52 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 118 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2002-07-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2354 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2002-07-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 26 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
2354 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-57 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1026 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
9 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS51 KCTP 022048
SVRCTP
PAC021-022145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
446 PM EDT TUE JUL 2 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  CAMBRIA COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 545 PM EDT.

* AT 446 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER BELSANO...OR 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF         
  NANTY-GLO...MOVING SLOWLY EAST.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  NANTY-GLO AT 455 PM.

THE MAIN THREAT FROM THIS STORM IS A DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND LARGE 
HAIL. EXPECT GUSTS TO EXCEED 60 MPH. THESE WINDS CAN EASILY KNOCK 
DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES...AND CAUSE PROPERTY DAMAGE. THE SAFEST 
PLACE TO BE DURING A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS INSIDE A SUBSTANTIAL 
SHELTER...AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IN ADDITION...THE STORM IS MOVING VERY SLOWLY CREATING THE POTENTIAL 
FOR VERY HEAVY RAINS.

$$

LAT...LON 4061 7887 4044 7897 4045 7857 4063 7844

LA CORTE

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS State College, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 2, 2:55 PM EDT, 1 hour 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 2, 2:55 PM EDT, 1 hour 53 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
300 PM TUE JUL 2 2002

...HEAT ADVISORY CONTINUES THROUGH WED EVENING FOR LOWER
SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY...

DEWPOINTS REMAINED RATHER HIGH IN THE FAR SE WITH LITTLE GRADIENT
AND LIGHT WINDS UNABLE TO MIX OUT THE VERY HI LOW LEVEL RH. THIS
HAS RESULTED IN SOME POCKETS OF 75 TO 80 DEWPOINT READINGS...ESP IN
DEEPER RIVER VALLEYS. RESULTANT HEAT INDICES WERE 105 TO 108. ALSO
HAVE A FEW ISOL TSTMS POPPING UP...MAINLY ACROSS FAR SW AND NE.

WL KEEP 20 POP THROUGH FIRST HALF OF TONIGHT FOR WANING CONVECTION.
THEREAFTER...JUST HAZY AND MUGGY OVERNIGHT WITH NEAR CALM WINDS.
THIS WILL RESULT IN PATCHY FOG...AND ALSO HEAT INDICES ACROSS THE
FAR SE REMAINING NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE 80 DEGREES...THUS THE
CONTINUATION OF HEAT ADVISORY.

FOR WED...ANOTHER SIZZLER...MAYBE A COUPLE OF DEGREES HOTTER...ESP
IN FAR SE AS WE APPEAR TO GET A BIT MORE OF A DOWNSLOPING W TO NW
WIND COMPONENT. DEWPOINTS SHOULD BE A TAD LOWER ACROSS THE AREA TOM
AFTERNOON BASED ON UPSTREAM AFTERNOON OBS AND THE AFOREMENTIONED
DOWNSLOPE FLOW. AS FOR CONVECTION...MID LEVEL CAP IS ACTUALLY A BIT
STRONGER TOM AFTN THEN TODAY. ALSO DO NOT HAVE WK VORT CROSSING
AREA. NEVERTHELESS...WITH SLIGHT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE CONV...AND
EXTREME CAPES...DO FEEL THAT A 20 POP SHOULD BE INCLUDED. WITH CAPES
NEARING OR EXCEEDING 3000 J/KG...ANY STORMS CAN QUICKLY GO SVR WITH
HAIL AND/OR STRONG ISOL WIND GUSTS.

WED NIGHT...ANY ISOL EVENING TSTMS SHOULD WANE WITH LOSS OF DAYTIME
HEATING...THEN JUST PARTLY CLOUDY. SLIGHTLY LOWER DEWPOINTS MAY HELP
PRECLUDE FOG PATCHES FROM DEVELOPING AS MUCH AS RECENT AMS.

THEN FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY...SLIGHTLY BETTER DEFINED COLD FRONT TO
MOVE SE ACROSS THE CWA DURING THE EARLY/MID AFTERNOON HOURS.
1000-850 HPA THETA E FIELDS RATHER TIGHT...AND AS THIS MOVES
THROUGH...WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE AN ISOL AFTN STORM POP. THAT
BEING SAID...WE HAVE VERY LITTLE DYNAMICS TO WORK WITH ALOFT. AREA
IN UNFAVORABLE RF QUAD OF JET STREAK NOSING INTO NORTHERN NEW ENG.
THIS APPEARS TO AID IN GOOD MID LEVEL DRYING AND SUBSIDENCE.
SO...WILL KEEP FORECAST DRY FOR THE FOURTH. WL ALSO BECOME LESS
HUMID AS DAY WEARS ON.

FOR XTND...LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER NICE WEEKEND ON TAP WITH LOWER
HUMIDITY VALEUS AND COOLER TEMPS. SOME HIGH AND MID LEVEL CLOUDS MAY
DIM SUNSHINE LATE SUNDAY...BUT OVERALL SHOULD BE MOSTLY CLEAR.
ANOTHER WARM UP FOR MON-TUE...BUT NOT NEARLY AS SIG AS CURRENT
SPELL. THEREAFTER...BIG RIDGE GRADUALLY RETROGRADES FURTHER
W...ALLOWING TROUGH TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES/NE STATES.

.CTP...HEAT ADV THROUGH WED EVENING FOR LWR SUSQ VLY.

KL

The office that day

Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 2, 5:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBlair54 min
Jul 2, 6:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPHuntingdon65 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2002Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.