Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2011

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 438

June 8, 2011Cattaraugus County, Chautauqua County, Erie County, New York; 8 counties in Pennsylvania

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jun 8, 2011, 1:51 AM EDT for Cattaraugus County, Chautauqua County, Erie County, New York; 8 counties in Pennsylvania. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 8, 2011, 1:51 AM EDT (05:51 UTC)
Expired
Jun 8, 2011, 4:43 AM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Cattaraugus County, NY, Chautauqua County, NY, Erie County, NY, Clarion County, PA, Crawford County, PA, Erie County, PA, Forest County, PA, McKean County, PA, Mercer County, PA, Venango County, PA, Warren County, PA

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 138 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:52 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 SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
5%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
2%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
20%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

2 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 8, 2:29 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFCattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie61 min
Jun 8, 3:22 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFCattaraugus, Chautauqua68 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 00:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 318 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, Detroit, MI at 00:00Z on 2011-06-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4086 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, Detroit, MI at 00:00Z on 2011-06-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 74 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
4086 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1520 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
103 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
9.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 8, 12:22 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllegany, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Erie, Genesee, Livingston and 11 more83 min
Jun 8, 3:46 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlbany, Columbia, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Greene and 17 more59 min
Jun 8, 4:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlbany, Cayuga, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland and 26 more6 hr
Jun 8, 7:45 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlbany, Broome, Chenango, Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess and 17 more90 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Pennsylvania, 2011Severe Thunderstorm Watches in New York, 2011Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.