Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

July 21, 2003Mercer County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this tornado warning at Jul 21, 2003, 8:15 PM EDT for Mercer County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 60 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, 8:15 PM EDT (00:15 UTC)
Expired
Jul 21, 2003, 9:15 PM EDT
In force
60 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), 80 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:18 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 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 93 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 00:00Z on 2003-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 171 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 2003-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 150 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
171 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-40 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1282 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
150 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
181 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

361 
WFUS51 KPBZ 220015
TORPBZ
PAC085-220115-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MERCER COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 915 PM EDT

* AT 815 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 2 MILES NORTHWEST OF MERCER...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  MERCER...
  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 4116 8000 4116 8011 4115 8037 4133 8038
          4137 8014 4140 8001

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 21, 8:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZVenango62 min
Jul 21, 8:33 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZVenango3 hr
Jul 21, 9:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZLawrence39 min
Jul 21, 9:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZButler53 min
Jul 21, 10:03 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZForest3 hr
Jul 21, 10:27 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZMercer3 hr
Jul 21, 10:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZButler63 min
Jul 22, 12:06 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZMercer, Venango3 hr
Jul 22, 12:58 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZLawrence3 hr
Jul 22, 1:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZVenango55 min
Jul 22, 2:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZButler63 min
Jul 22, 2:16 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZForest3 hr
Jul 22, 2:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZBeaver48 min
Jul 22, 2:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZClarion, Forest57 min
Jul 22, 2:56 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZMercer, Venango3 hr
Jul 22, 3:52 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZClarion3 hr
Jul 22, 3:57 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZJefferson3 hr
Jul 22, 5:15 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZAllegheny3 hr

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.