Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 1, NWS State College, PA

April 28, 2002York County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Apr 28, 2002, 6:20 PM EDT for York County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 25 min. 1 report 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: Apr 28, 2002, 6:20 PM EDT (22:20 UTC)
Expired: Apr 28, 2002, 6:45 PM EDT
In force: 25 min
Issued by: NWS State College, PA
Area: Whole counties

County York County, PA

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 28, 6:30 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Emigsville, PA	Straight line thunderstorm winds downed dozens of trees in the Emigsville area of York County. Several out-buildings were knocked down as well.

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
Apr 28, 5:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 249 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: 23 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -94 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 468 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 394 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 418 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS51 KCTP 282220
TORCTP
PAC133-282245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
620 PM EDT SUN APR 28 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  YORK COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 645 PM EDT.

* AT 617 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR DOVER...OR NEAR
  WEIGELSTOWN...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND POSSIBLE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE    
  NEAR...
  MANCHESTER AT 625 PM.

FOR YOUR PROTECTION FROM THE DAMAGING WINDS OF A TORNADO...GO TO A
BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR
BUSINESS.

$$

LAT...LON 4008 7690 4001 7689 4001 7667 4010 7668

JL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 28, 2:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Warren	12 min
Apr 28, 2:38 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Warren	67 min
Apr 28, 2:54 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	McKean	66 min
Apr 28, 2:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Elk	61 min
Apr 28, 4:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Cambria, Somerset	55 min
Apr 28, 4:17 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Bedford, Blair	58 min
Apr 28, 4:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Centre	64 min
Apr 28, 4:27 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Potter, Tioga	63 min
Apr 28, 4:40 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Huntingdon	65 min
Apr 28, 5:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Juniata, Mifflin	55 min
Apr 28, 5:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Lycoming, Sullivan	66 min
Apr 28, 5:12 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Perry	63 min
Apr 28, 5:16 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, Union	59 min
Apr 28, 5:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Cumberland, Dauphin, Lebanon	65 min
Apr 28, 6:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Adams, York	64 min
Apr 28, 6:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Lancaster	64 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.