Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 21, NWS State College, PA

September 17, 2004Fulton County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Sep 17, 2004, 7:29 PM EDT for Fulton County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 46 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, 7:29 PM EDT (23:29 UTC)
Expired
Sep 17, 2004, 8:15 PM EDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Fulton County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:29 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
Sep 17, 6:50 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 121 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2004-09-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 105 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2004-09-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 74 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
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 172329
TORCTP
PAC057-180015-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 815 PM EDT

* AT 725 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION NEAR BIG COVE TANNERY...OR
  16 MILES WEST OF GREENCASTLE...MOVING NORTH AT 40 MPH. THIS
  DANGEROUS STORM COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  MCCONNELLSBURG AROUND 735 PM EDT...
  HARRISSONVILLE AROUND 740 PM EDT...
  SIDELING HILL REST AREA AND SALUVIA AROUND 745 PM EDT...
  WELLS TANNERY AROUND 755 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 3977 7813 3980 7790 4011 7797 4010 7819

$$

JV/DO

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 17, 2:15 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPWarren6 hr
Sep 17, 5:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBedford, Fulton64 min
Sep 17, 5:22 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPBedford, Fulton53 min
Sep 17, 7:20 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPFranklin40 min
Sep 17, 7:43 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPAdams, Franklin47 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.