Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2003
Tornado Warning 7, NWS Pittsburgh, PA
NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this tornado warning at Jul 21, 2003, 1:42 PM EDT for Mercer County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 63 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 21, 2003, 1:42 PM EDT (17:42 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 21, 2003, 2:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 63 min
- Issued by
- NWS Pittsburgh, PA
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Mercer County, PA
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:44 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 21, 1:40 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 99 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1009 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -36 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 823 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 134 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 131 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.4
- Supercell composite
- 3.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
434 WFUS51 KPBZ 211742 TORPBZ PAC085-211845- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 141 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... MERCER COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA * UNTIL 245 PM EDT * AT 141 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 4 MILES WEST OF FARRELL...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. * SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE... FARRELL... HERMITAGE... MERCER... SHARON... SHARPSVILLE... STONEBORO... 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. PLEASE REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY CALLING TOLL FREE...1-877-633-6772...WHEN YOU CAN DO SO SAFELY. LAT...LON 4126 8070 4114 8062 4117 8003 4147 8015
The office that day
Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 21, 5:29 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | PBZ | Mercer | 3 hr |
| Jul 21, 1:21 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Mercer | 54 min |
| Jul 21, 1:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Butler | 61 min |
| Jul 21, 1:47 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | PBZ | Mercer | 3 hr |
| Jul 21, 1:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Venango | 70 min |
| Jul 21, 1:56 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | PBZ | Venango | 3 hr |
| Jul 21, 1:59 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Clarion | 76 min |
| Jul 21, 2:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Armstrong | 43 min |
| Jul 21, 2:07 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Lawrence | 53 min |
| Jul 21, 2:13 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Allegheny, Beaver | 62 min |
| Jul 21, 2:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Forest | 76 min |
| Jul 21, 2:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Jefferson | 73 min |
| Jul 21, 2:32 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | PBZ | Clarion, Forest | 3 hr |
| Jul 21, 7:26 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Mercer | 64 min |
| Jul 21, 7:30 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | PBZ | Mercer | 3 hr |
| Jul 21, 7:33 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | PBZ | Mercer | 42 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.