Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 17, NWS State College, PA

August 12, 2004Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Aug 12, 2004, 1:53 PM EDT for Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 52 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
Aug 12, 2004, 1:53 PM EDT (17:53 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 2004, 2:45 PM EDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Schuylkill County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 146 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:53 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

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 137 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2004-08-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 731 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2004-08-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 59 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
731 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
686 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS51 KCTP 121753
TORCTP
PAC107-121845-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
153 PM EDT THU AUG 12 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SCHUYLKILL COUNTY IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 245 PM EDT

* AT 150 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION NEAR TREMONT...OR 9 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF MINERSVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THIS
  DANGEROUS STORM COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  JOE ZERBEY AIRPORT AROUND 205 PM EDT...
  MINERSVILLE AROUND 210 PM EDT...
  POTTSVILLE AROUND 215 PM EDT...
  ST. CLAIR AND PORT CARBON AND GIRARDVILLE AROUND 220 PM EDT...
  FRACKVILLE AND NEW PHILADELPHIA AROUND 225 PM EDT...
  LOCUST LAKE STATE PARK AND SHENANDOAH AROUND 230 PM EDT...

FOR YOUR PROTECTION FROM THE DAMAGING WINDS OF A TORNADO...GO TO A
BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR
BUSINESS.

PLEASE REPORT HAIL...STRONG WINDS OR WIND DAMAGE TO THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE BY CALLING TOLL FREE...1-877-633-6772.

LAT...LON 4060 7654 4050 7637 4082 7589 4093 7617

$$

JUNG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 1:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPSchuylkill65 min
Aug 12, 2:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPSchuylkill30 min
Aug 12, 5:30 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPLebanon, Schuylkill6 hr
Aug 12, 5:51 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPYork6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2004Every tornado warning in 2004Tornadoes in 2004

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.