Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS State College, PA

July 18, 2003Columbia County, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 18, 2003, 5:53 PM EDT for Columbia County, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 22 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 18, 2003, 5:53 PM EDT (21:53 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 2003, 6:15 PM EDT
In force
22 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Columbia County, PA, Northumberland County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 134 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:56 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

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 154 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2003-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2003-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2075 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
39 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

181 
WUUS51 KCTP 182153
SVRCTP
PAC037-097-182215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
553 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
  COLUMBIA COUNTY IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 615 PM EDT.

* AT 553 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER KULPMONT...OR 2 MILES NORTH OF KULPMONT...
  MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

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

LAT...LON 4081 7630 4072 7651 4077 7669 4093 7649
          4091 7636 4090 7628


$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 18, 6:18 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPMcKean, Potter3 hr
Jul 18, 3:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClearfield53 min
Jul 18, 3:45 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPClearfield30 min
Jul 18, 4:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClearfield31 min
Jul 18, 4:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLycoming, Union57 min
Jul 18, 4:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCentre50 min
Jul 18, 5:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPHuntingdon27 min
Jul 18, 6:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPJuniata, Mifflin28 min
Jul 18, 7:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPPerry29 min
Jul 18, 7:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPDauphin59 min
Jul 18, 7:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLebanon59 min
Jul 18, 7:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPHuntingdon18 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2003Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2003

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.