Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Mesoscale Discussions in 2004

Mesoscale Discussion 1313

June 17, 200439 counties in Pennsylvania

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jun 17, 2004, 12:05 PM EDT for 39 counties in Pennsylvania. It was in force for 115 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 17, 2004, 12:05 PM EDT (16:05 UTC)
Expired
Jun 17, 2004, 2:00 PM EDT
In force
115 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 39 counties

Allegheny County, PA, Armstrong County, PA, Beaver County, PA, Blair County, PA, Bradford County, PA, Butler County, PA, Cambria County, PA, Cameron County, PA, Centre County, PA, Clarion County, PA, Clearfield County, PA, Clinton County, PA, Columbia County, PA, Crawford County, PA, Cumberland County, PA, Dauphin County, PA, Elk County, PA, Forest County, PA, Huntingdon County, PA, Indiana County, PA, Jefferson County, PA, Juniata County, PA, Lawrence County, PA, Lycoming County, PA, McKean County, PA, Mercer County, PA, Mifflin County, PA, Montour County, PA, Northumberland County, PA, Perry County, PA, Potter County, PA, Snyder County, PA, Sullivan County, PA, Tioga County, PA, Union County, PA, Venango County, PA, Warren County, PA, Washington County, PA, Westmoreland County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:06 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 watches that followed

Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 160 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2004-06-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1052 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2004-06-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 151 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
1052 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
745 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
3.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
ACUS11 KWNS 171606
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 171605 
PAZ000-171800-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 1313
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1105 AM CDT THU JUN 17 2004

AREAS AFFECTED...NW AND CNTRL PA

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL 

VALID 171605Z - 171800Z

A THREAT FOR WIND DAMAGE WILL INCREASE OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS AS
CELLS DEVELOP AND MOVE EWD ACROSS NW AND CNTRL PA. A WW MAY BECOME
NECESSARY BY EARLY AFTERNOON.

SFC ANALYSIS CURRENTLY SHOWS A QUASI-STATIONARY FRONT ACROSS NEW
YORK WITH A LOW NEAR LAKE ERIE. SOUTH OF THE BOUNDARY...SFC
DEWPOINTS ARE IN THE LOWER TO MID 70S F WHERE MLCAPE IS
INCREASING...CURRENTLY RANGING FROM 1000 TO 1500 J/KG. AN AXIS OF
LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE IS LOCATED IN NRN OH EXTENDING ENEWD ACROSS
LAKE ERIE AND LAKE ONTARIO WHERE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE
DEVELOPED. STORM COVERAGE SHOULD GRADUALLY INCREASE AS A BAND OF PVA
MOVES EWD ACROSS WRN PA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS
SHOWS A LOW TO MID-LEVEL SPEED MAX LOCATED ACROSS OH AND NW PA AND
THIS IS HELPING CREATE MODERATE DEEP LAYER SHEAR OF 30 TO 35 KT. AS
THE INSTABILITY CONTINUES TO INCREASE THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON...THE
ENVIRONMENT WILL BECOME MORE FAVORABLE FOR MULTICELL SEVERE STORMS.
STEEP LOW-LEVEL LAPSE RATES AND HIGH SFC MOISTURE CONTENT WILL FAVOR
WIND DAMAGE AS THE PRIMARY THREAT.

..BROYLES.. 06/17/2004

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

ATTN...WFO...BGM...CTP...PBZ...CLE...

41967860 41878039 40998050 40218046 40057828 40097651
41167636 41947643

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 17, 1:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAllegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Bradford and 40 more6 hr
Jun 17, 2:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster and 7 more6 hr
Jun 17, 4:22 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Bucks, Cambria and 37 more83 min
Jun 17, 7:37 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Delaware and 7 more53 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Pennsylvania, 2004Every mesoscale discussion 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.