Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 690

July 8, 20034 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jul 8, 2003, 8:30 PM EDT for 4 states. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 8, 2003, 8:30 PM EDT (00:30 UTC)
Expired
Jul 9, 2003, 12:00 AM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 74 counties

Allegany County, MD, Frederick County, MD, Garrett County, MD, Washington County, MD, Adams County, PA, Allegheny County, PA, Armstrong County, PA, Bedford County, PA, Blair County, PA, Butler County, PA, Cambria County, PA, Cameron County, PA, Centre County, PA, Clarion County, PA, Clearfield County, PA, Clinton County, PA, Cumberland County, PA, Elk County, PA, Fayette County, PA, Forest County, PA, Franklin County, PA, Fulton County, PA, Greene County, PA, Huntingdon County, PA, Indiana County, PA, Jefferson County, PA, Juniata County, PA, Lycoming County, PA, Mifflin County, PA, Perry County, PA, Snyder County, PA, Somerset County, PA, Union County, PA, Venango County, PA, Washington County, PA, Westmoreland County, PA, City of Harrisonburg, VA, City of Manassas, VA, City of Manassas Park, VA, City of Winchester, VA, Clarke County, VA, Culpeper County, VA, Fauquier County, VA, Frederick County, VA, Highland County, VA, Loudoun County, VA, Madison County, VA, Page County, VA, Prince William County, VA, Rappahannock County, VA, Rockingham County, VA, Shenandoah County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Warren County, VA, Barbour County, WV, Berkeley County, WV, Grant County, WV, Hampshire County, WV, Hardy County, WV, Harrison County, WV, Jefferson County, WV, Lewis County, WV, Marion County, WV, Mineral County, WV, Monongalia County, WV, Morgan County, WV, Pendleton County, WV, Pocahontas County, WV, Preston County, WV, Randolph County, WV, Taylor County, WV, Tucker County, WV, Upshur County, WV, Webster County, WV

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 135 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:34 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.

Warnings issued inside it

12 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 8, 8:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZFayette58 min
Jul 8, 8:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZIndiana67 min
Jul 8, 8:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXBarbour, Taylor37 min
Jul 8, 8:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZPreston66 min
Jul 8, 8:51 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZGreene3 hr
Jul 8, 8:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZMonongalia54 min
Jul 8, 9:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCambria, Somerset49 min
Jul 8, 9:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZFayette48 min
Jul 8, 9:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZGarrett56 min
Jul 8, 9:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXAllegany78 min
Jul 8, 10:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBedford, Blair, Somerset58 min
Jul 8, 10:32 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZPreston, Tucker3 hr

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 119 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 2003-07-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1274 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 2003-07-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 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
1274 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1315 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
67 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.

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SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 8, 8:12 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllegany, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Howard, Montgomery and 1 more93 min
Jul 8, 11:16 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllegany119 min
Jul 9, 10:28 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Cecil, Charles and 9 more92 min
Jul 9, 11:50 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAllegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Frederick and 7 more6 hr
Jul 9, 12:09 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalvert, Caroline, Charles, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's and 5 more96 min
Jul 9, 1:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAnne Arundel, Calvert, Caroline, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester and 8 more8 hr
Jul 9, 2:47 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllegany, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Harford and 4 more88 min
Jul 9, 3:48 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnne Arundel, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Dorchester, Kent and 7 more117 min
Jul 9, 7:36 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnne Arundel, Calvert, Caroline, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester and 8 more114 min
Jul 9, 12:55 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCWise3 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Pennsylvania, 2003Severe Thunderstorm Watches in West Virginia, 2003Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Virginia, 2003Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.