Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

August 20, 2004Beaver County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this tornado warning at Aug 20, 2004, 4:47 PM EDT for Beaver County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 43 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 20, 2004, 4:47 PM EDT (20:47 UTC)
Expired: Aug 20, 2004, 5:30 PM EDT
In force: 43 min
Issued by: NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Beaver County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 16 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:49 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Aug 20, 4:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 33 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: 181 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -102 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 860 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 71 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 KPBZ 202047
TORPBZ
PAC007-202130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
447 PM EDT FRI AUG 20 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BEAVER COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 530 PM EDT

* AT 444 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 6 MILES WEST OF
  RACCOON CREEK STATE PARK...AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  HARSHAVILLE...
  SHIPPINGPORT...
  ECONOMY BORO...
  ALIQUIPPA...
  BEAVER...
  BEAVER FALLS...
  FOMBELL...

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 4064 8016 4048 8038 4048 8052 4065 8052
      4086 8030 4086 8016

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 20, 3:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Indiana	54 min
Aug 20, 4:35 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Beaver	55 min
Aug 20, 5:01 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Allegheny	59 min
Aug 20, 5:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Butler	66 min
Aug 20, 5:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Washington	54 min
Aug 20, 5:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Armstrong	65 min
Aug 20, 5:39 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Venango	66 min
Aug 20, 5:58 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Allegheny	62 min
Aug 20, 6:02 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Clarion	58 min
Aug 20, 6:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Jefferson	54 min
Aug 20, 6:27 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Westmoreland	63 min
Aug 20, 6:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Westmoreland	56 min
Aug 20, 6:44 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Indiana	61 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.