Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

July 21, 2003Mercer County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this tornado warning at Jul 21, 2003, 7:33 PM EDT for Mercer County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 42 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, 7:33 PM EDT (23:33 UTC)
Expired: Jul 21, 2003, 8:15 PM EDT
In force: 42 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), 85 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:37 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, 11.6 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.

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: 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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

260 
WFUS51 KPBZ 212333
TORPBZ
PAC085-220015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
734 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MERCER COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 815 PM EDT

* AT 734 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 5 MILES WEST OF SHARON...MOVING EAST AT 40 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 4123 8000 4120 8027 4117 8053 4138 8052
          4141 8033 4144 8021

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, 1:42 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	PBZ	Mercer	63 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

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.