Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

June 12, 2003Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this tornado warning at Jun 12, 2003, 6:08 PM EDT for Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 52 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
Jun 12, 2003, 6:08 PM EDT (22:08 UTC)
Expired
Jun 12, 2003, 7:00 PM EDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Westmoreland County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:10 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 12, 1:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 41 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 2003-06-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 40 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2003-06-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 63 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
40 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-75 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
920 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
115 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.

458 
WFUS51 KPBZ 122208
TORPBZ
PAC129-122300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
608 PM EDT THU JUN 12 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WESTMORELAND COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 700 PM EDT

* AT 608 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 5 MILES NORTH OF ARNOLD...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  ARNOLD...
  LOWER BURRELL...
  NEW KENSINGTON...

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. EVACUATE MOBILE HOMES AND
GET INSIDE A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.

LAT...LON 4068 7967 4064 7962 4056 7973 4055 7977
          4059 7977 4063 7970

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 12, 5:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZAllegheny38 min
Jun 12, 5:43 PM EDTTornado WarningPBZAllegheny32 min
Jun 12, 6:17 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZAllegheny3 hr
Jun 12, 6:17 PM EDTTornado WarningPBZAllegheny43 min
Jun 12, 6:21 PM EDTTornado WarningPBZArmstrong39 min
Jun 12, 6:38 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZArmstrong3 hr
Jun 12, 6:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZIndiana53 min
Jun 12, 6:56 PM EDTTornado WarningPBZArmstrong64 min
Jun 12, 7:23 PM EDTTornado WarningPBZIndiana52 min
Jun 12, 7:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZClarion65 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.