Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 7, NWS State College, PA

July 4, 2004Clearfield County, Elk County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Jul 4, 2004, 6:36 PM EDT for Clearfield County, Elk County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 54 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
Jul 4, 2004, 6:36 PM EDT (22:36 UTC)
Expired
Jul 4, 2004, 7:30 PM EDT
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Clearfield County, PA, Elk County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:37 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

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 188 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 2004-07-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 509 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 2004-07-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 102 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
509 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-73 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1039 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS51 KCTP 042236
TORCTP
PAC033-047-042330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
635 PM EDT SUN JUL 4 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CLEARFIELD COUNTY IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
  ELK COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 730 PM EDT

* AT 633 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION NEAR TREASURE LAKE...OR 7
  MILES NORTHEAST OF DUBOIS...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. THIS DANGEROUS
  STORM COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  PENFIELD AROUND 645 PM EDT...
  PARKER DAM STATE PARK AROUND 700 PM EDT...
  FORCE AROUND 705 PM EDT...
  MEDIX RUN AROUND 725 PM EDT...
  BENEZETTE AROUND 730 PM EDT...

WHEN A TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED BASED ON DOPPLER RADAR...IT MEANS
THAT STRONG ROTATION HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE STORM. A TORNADO MAY
ALREADY BE ON THE GROUND...OR IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SHORTLY. IF YOU
ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM...MOVE INDOORS AND TO THE
LOWEST LEVEL OF THE BUILDING. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF YOU ARE CAMPING IN THIS AREA...GET INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING NOW

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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

LAT...LON 4126 7873 4116 7874 4113 7820 4140 7833

DANGELO
$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 6:03 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPClearfield27 min
Jul 4, 6:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCambria, Somerset80 min
Jul 4, 6:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClearfield75 min
Jul 4, 7:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCameron, Elk45 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.