Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2011

Tornado Warning 18, NWS State College, PA

May 23, 2011Huntingdon County, Juniata County, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at May 23, 2011, 4:13 PM EDT for Huntingdon County, Juniata County, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 32 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
May 23, 2011, 4:13 PM EDT (20:13 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 2011, 4:45 PM EDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Storm-based polygon

Counties Huntingdon County, PA, Juniata County, PA, Mifflin County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 38 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:13 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
May 23, 10:48 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC9 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 190 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2011-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2011-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -35 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
530 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
11 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.

554 
WFUS51 KCTP 232013
TORCTP
PAC061-067-087-232045-
/O.NEW.KCTP.TO.W.0018.110523T2013Z-110523T2045Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
413 PM EDT MON MAY 23 2011

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN HUNTINGDON COUNTY IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...
  CENTRAL JUNIATA COUNTY IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...
  MIFFLIN COUNTY IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...

* UNTIL 445 PM EDT

* AT 408 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THE STORM
  CONTAINING THE POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS NEAR ALLENSVILLE...MOVING EAST
  AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  BELLEVILLE AROUND 420 PM EDT...
  STRODES MILLS AROUND 425 PM EDT...
  YEAGERTOWN AND BURNHAM AROUND 435 PM EDT...
  MILROY AND WALNUT AROUND 440 PM EDT...
  ALFARATA AND REEDS GAP STATE PARK AROUND 445 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.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

HEAVY RAINFALL MAY OBSCURE THIS TORNADO. IF YOU WAIT TO SEE OR HEAR
IT COMING...IT MAY BE TOO LATE TO GET TO A SAFE PLACE.

TAKE COVER INSIDE NOW. DO NOT WAIT TO SEE OR HEAR THE TORNADO. MOVE
TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST LEVEL OF A STURDY BUILDING. PUT AS
MANY WALLS BETWEEN YOU AND THE OUTSIDE AS YOU CAN. AVOID WINDOWS.
PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM EDT MONDAY
EVENING FOR SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA.

&&

LAT...LON 4063 7797 4073 7772 4072 7771 4075 7765
      4075 7762 4083 7741 4052 7729 4044 7794
TIME...MOT...LOC 2013Z 248DEG 30KT 4058 7781

$$

FORECASTER: KF

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 3:22 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPBlair, Huntingdon23 min
May 23, 3:48 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPCentre, Clinton, Mifflin27 min
May 23, 4:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCentre, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, Snyder, Union66 min
May 23, 4:18 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPCentre, Clinton, Lycoming57 min
May 23, 4:31 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPFranklin29 min
May 23, 4:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCentre, Clinton, Columbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland and 3 more52 min
May 23, 5:00 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPLancaster30 min
May 23, 5:05 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPCumberland25 min
May 23, 5:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPDauphin, Juniata, Northumberland, Perry, Schuylkill, Snyder54 min
May 23, 5:15 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPJuniata, Northumberland, Snyder30 min
May 23, 5:34 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPYork26 min
May 23, 5:38 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPDauphin22 min
May 23, 5:49 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPDauphin, Northumberland, Schuylkill41 min
May 23, 5:51 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPColumbia, Montour, Northumberland24 min
May 23, 6:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPColumbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Schuylkill, Sullivan58 min
May 23, 6:08 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPLancaster37 min
May 23, 6:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPDauphin, Northumberland, Schuylkill, Snyder60 min
May 23, 6:16 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPLancaster44 min
May 23, 6:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLancaster, York34 min
May 23, 6:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPSchuylkill48 min
May 23, 7:28 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPSchuylkill32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2011Every tornado warning in 2011Tornadoes in 2011

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.