Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

June 12, 2003Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this tornado warning at Jun 12, 2003, 6:17 PM EDT for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 43 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, 6:17 PM EDT (22:17 UTC)
Expired: Jun 12, 2003, 7:00 PM EDT
In force: 43 min
Issued by: NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Allegheny County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 35 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:20 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, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 32 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: 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.

000 
WFUS51 KPBZ 122217
TORPBZ
PAC003-122300-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ALLEGHENY COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 700 PM EDT

* AT 617 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER RUSSELLTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  BRACKENRIDGE...
  CHESWICK...
  CURTISVILLE...
  FOX CHAPEL...
  HAMPTON TOWNSHIP...
  HARRISON TOWNSHIP...
  OAKMONT...

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 4067 7980 4066 7970 4059 7978 4055 7978
          4053 7974 4048 7983 4060 7998 4067 7992

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 12, 5:37 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Allegheny	38 min
Jun 12, 5:43 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	PBZ	Allegheny	32 min
Jun 12, 6:08 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	PBZ	Westmoreland	52 min
Jun 12, 6:17 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	PBZ	Allegheny	3 hr
Jun 12, 6:21 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	PBZ	Armstrong	39 min
Jun 12, 6:38 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	PBZ	Armstrong	3 hr
Jun 12, 6:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Indiana	53 min
Jun 12, 6:56 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	PBZ	Armstrong	64 min
Jun 12, 7:23 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	PBZ	Indiana	52 min
Jun 12, 7:40 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Clarion	65 min

Nearby

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