Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 19, NWS State College, PA

September 17, 2004Bedford County, Fulton County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Sep 17, 2004, 5:22 PM EDT for Bedford County, Fulton County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 53 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: Sep 17, 2004, 5:22 PM EDT (21:22 UTC)
Expired: Sep 17, 2004, 6:15 PM EDT
In force: 53 min
Issued by: NWS State College, PA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Bedford County, PA, Fulton County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 117 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:24 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 132 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: 105 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -89 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 687 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 74 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 172122
TORCTP
PAC009-057-172215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
521 PM EDT FRI SEP 17 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BEDFORD COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
  FULTON COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 615 PM EDT

* AT 518 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION NEAR BARNES GAP...OR 17
  MILES SOUTH OF BREEZEWOOD...MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH. THIS DANGEROUS
  STORM COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  LOCUST GROVE AROUND 525 PM EDT...
  CRYSTAL SPRINGS AND CLEARVILLE AROUND 535 PM EDT...
  BREEZEWOOD AROUND 545 PM EDT...
  EVERETT AROUND 550 PM EDT...

THIS TORNADO WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING THAT
WAS IN EFFECT FOR THE SAME AREA.

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

LAT...LON 3968 7843 3968 7819 4008 7820 4019 7831
      4008 7843

$$

GD/JV

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 17, 2:15 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	CTP	Warren	6 hr
Sep 17, 5:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Bedford, Fulton	64 min
Sep 17, 7:20 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CTP	Franklin	40 min
Sep 17, 7:29 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CTP	Fulton	46 min
Sep 17, 7:43 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CTP	Adams, Franklin	47 min

Nearby

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