Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2012

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 303

May 27, 201214 counties in Ohio; 15 counties in Pennsylvania; Brooke County, Hancock County, West Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 27, 2012, 1:33 PM EDT for 14 counties in Ohio; 15 counties in Pennsylvania; Brooke County, Hancock County, West Virginia. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 27, 2012, 1:33 PM EDT (17:33 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 2012, 6:50 PM EDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 31 counties

Ashtabula County, OH, Carroll County, OH, Columbiana County, OH, Cuyahoga County, OH, Geauga County, OH, Harrison County, OH, Jefferson County, OH, Lake County, OH, Mahoning County, OH, Portage County, OH, Stark County, OH, Summit County, OH, Trumbull County, OH, Tuscarawas County, OH, Allegheny County, PA, Armstrong County, PA, Beaver County, PA, Butler County, PA, Clarion County, PA, Crawford County, PA, Erie County, PA, Forest County, PA, Indiana County, PA, Jefferson County, PA, Lawrence County, PA, Mercer County, PA, Venango County, PA, Washington County, PA, Westmoreland County, PA, Brooke County, WV, Hancock County, WV

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:33 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
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
5%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
20%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
50%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 1:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEGeauga41 min
May 27, 2:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECuyahoga, Lake43 min
May 27, 2:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEAshtabula50 min
May 27, 2:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZColumbiana46 min
May 27, 3:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZArmstrong, Beaver, Butler, Clarion, Lawrence, Mercer54 min
May 27, 3:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZArmstrong, Butler, Clarion, Mercer, Venango50 min
May 27, 3:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZClarion, Forest, Jefferson, Venango45 min
May 27, 3:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZArmstrong, Butler, Clarion, Jefferson47 min
May 27, 4:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZArmstrong, Clarion, Indiana, Jefferson47 min
May 27, 4:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZArmstrong, Indiana, Westmoreland64 min
May 27, 5:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZAllegheny, Armstrong, Indiana, Westmoreland59 min
May 27, 5:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZAllegheny, Fayette, Washington, Westmoreland63 min
May 27, 5:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZIndiana, Westmoreland18 min
May 27, 5:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZIndiana, Westmoreland35 min
May 27, 6:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZFayette, Westmoreland34 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 101 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 2012-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 993 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 2012-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 46 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
993 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-88 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1085 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 12:56 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAshtabula, Geauga, Lake, Mahoning, Trumbull64 min
May 27, 1:41 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCJefferson64 min
May 27, 4:12 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Blair, Butler, Cambria and 18 more63 min
May 27, 5:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield and 21 more4 hr
May 27, 6:34 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Cumberland, Fayette and 9 more56 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Pennsylvania, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Ohio, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in West Virginia, 2012Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2012

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.