Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

May 25, 2004Venango County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this tornado warning at May 25, 2004, 5:37 PM EDT for Venango County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 53 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 25, 2004, 5:37 PM EDT (21:37 UTC)
Expired: May 25, 2004, 6:30 PM EDT
In force: 53 min
Issued by: NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Venango County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 118 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:41 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 25, 6:15 PM EDT	HAIL 0.75	8 N Oil City, PA

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 25, 1:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 129 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1145 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 139 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 131 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.

298 
WFUS51 KPBZ 252137
TORPBZ
PAC121-252230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
538 PM EDT TUE MAY 25 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  VENANGO COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 630 PM EDT

* AT 531 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 11 MILES WEST OF
  COOPERSTOWN...AND MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  SUGARCREEK...
  OIL CITY...
  ROUSEVILLE...
  HASSON HEIGHTS...
  PLEASANTVILLE...

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. EVACUATE MOBILE HOMES AND
GET INSIDE A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.

PLEASE REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY
CALLING TOLL FREE...1-877-633-6772...WHEN YOU CAN DO SO SAFELY.

LAT...LON 4162 7957 4140 7960 4144 8000 4151 7999
      4156 7993 4157 7989 4158 7989 4159 7985
      4162 7983

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 25, 2:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Allegheny	26 min
May 25, 3:19 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Armstrong, Westmoreland	41 min
May 25, 3:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Indiana	65 min
May 25, 3:57 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	PBZ	Indiana	48 min
May 25, 4:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Indiana, Westmoreland	59 min
May 25, 5:27 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Mercer	63 min
May 25, 5:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Venango	58 min
May 25, 6:07 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Forest	68 min
May 25, 7:55 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Clarion, Venango	65 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; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.