Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 18, NWS State College, PA

August 19, 2004Cambria County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Aug 19, 2004, 3:15 PM EDT for Cambria County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 30 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 19, 2004, 3:15 PM EDT (19:15 UTC)
Expired
Aug 19, 2004, 3:45 PM EDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Cambria County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:15 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 19, 2:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 104 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 12:00Z on 2004-08-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 21 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2004-08-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 104 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
21 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-234 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
963 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
150 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.

000 
WFUS51 KCTP 191915
TORCTP
PAC021-191945-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
314 PM EDT THU AUG 19 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 345 PM EDT

* AT 311 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION NEAR WESTMONT...MOVING
  SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THIS DANGEROUS STORM COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO
  AT ANY TIME.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  EAST CONEMAUGH AROUND 320 PM EDT...
  VINCO AROUND 325 PM EDT...
  SOUTH FORK AROUND 330 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 4048 7899 4036 7906 4025 7870 4033 7865

$$

JL/RG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 19, 2:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCambria56 min
Aug 19, 4:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPSomerset60 min
Aug 19, 4:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPYork62 min
Aug 19, 5:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPAdams59 min
Aug 19, 6:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLancaster, York60 min
Aug 19, 6:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPAdams30 min

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.