Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 6, NWS State College, PA

July 22, 2003Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Jul 22, 2003, 3:50 PM EDT for Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 40 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 22, 2003, 3:50 PM EDT (19:50 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 2003, 4:30 PM EDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Dauphin County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 107 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:50 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, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 131 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 2003-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1049 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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 2003-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 69 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1049 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-60 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
961 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
69 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
158 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

888 
WFUS51 KCTP 221950
TORCTP
PAC043-222030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
349 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  DAUPHIN COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 430 PM EDT.

* AT 345 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO JUST NORTH OF
  DAUPHIN...OR 12 MILES NORTHWEST OF LINGLESTOWN...MOVING EAST
  AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  ELLENDALE FORGE AROUND 355 PM.
  ELIZABETHVILLE AROUND 400 PM.
  DEHART DAM AROUND 405 PM.
  LYKENS AROUND 410 PM.
  PENN NATIONAL RACEWAY AROUND 415 PM.

THIS TORNADO WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING THAT
WAS IN EFFECT FOR THE SAME AREA.

IN ADDITION TO THE TORNADO...THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY
LARGE HAIL AND DESTRUCTIVE STRAIGHT LINE WINDS.

LAT...LON 4056 7705 4038 7704 4038 7667 4057 7657

DANGELO

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 21, 8:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLancaster62 min
Jul 21, 8:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPWarren6 hr
Jul 21, 9:58 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPMcKean6 hr
Jul 21, 11:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPPotter26 min
Jul 21, 11:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClearfield53 min
Jul 22, 3:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPPerry52 min
Jul 22, 3:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPDauphin57 min
Jul 22, 4:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClearfield66 min
Jul 22, 4:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCameron17 min
Jul 22, 5:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPPotter69 min
Jul 22, 5:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCumberland91 min
Jul 22, 6:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPYork58 min
Jul 22, 6:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPDauphin47 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2003Every tornado warning in 2003Tornadoes 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.