Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Special Weather Statements in 2017

Special Weather Statement, NWS State College, PA

August 18, 2017Juniata County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this special weather statement at Aug 18, 2017, 1:42 PM EDT for Juniata County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 33 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 18, 2017, 1:42 PM EDT (17:42 UTC)
Expired
Aug 18, 2017, 2:15 PM EDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA

County Juniata County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:46 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 nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 161 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2017-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 746 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2017-08-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 12 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
746 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-72 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
651 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
76 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

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What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this special weather statement went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS State College, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this special weather statement went out at Aug 18, 11:04 AM EDT, 2 hours 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 18, 11:04 AM EDT, 2 hours 38 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service State College PA
1104 AM EDT Fri Aug 18 2017

.SYNOPSIS...
A cold front will move through the region today. An upper trough
will move across the area on Saturday. Temperatures will stay
above normal but rise even higher each day through Tuesday as a
ridge builds aloft. Another cold front should trigger showers
around mid-week and the week should end on a cooler note.

&&

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
Broken area of rain is now becoming more showery and a line is
forming to the west of JST/FIG. Instability back in the clear-er
air over the NW is also firing up a sct line of shra which may
produce TS soon. Some pockets of heavy rain are possible as
PWATs/dewpoints are very high - some of the highest of the
summer in many places. Temps aloft are very warm but the temps
aloft should be cooling slightly this aftn and, as is happening
in the NW, thunder is possible in most places. Timing still
looks very solid with the storms/rain pushing out of the SE by
21Z, and only a sct shra/tsra in the nrn mtns after that but
well before midnight.

Prev...
With the front passing off to the east this evening, the bulk
of the overnight hours will be dry, with the best chance for a
lingering shower after dark being over the far eastern areas.

Cooler and drier air will seep in overnight. Lows will drop back
into the upper 50s to mid 60s.

&&

.SHORT TERM /SATURDAY/...
High pressure will nose into the state to start the day with
fair-dry conditions. However a potent shortwave rotating through
the base of the long-wave trough passing overhead will bring a
renewed threat for scattered showers and perhaps thunder back
into the forecast area during the afternoon. The timing is
almost perfectly lined up for daytime heat and the short-wave
trough forcing. Dewpoints should be around 60F by that time.
Saturday's highs will range from the mid 70s north to mid 80s
south which will average a couple of deg either side of normal.

&&

.LONG TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/...
After the shortwave moves through the area by later Saturday,
heights aloft are forecast to rise and become quasi-zonal.
Sunday into Tuesday looks warm and dry, with Tuesday even ending
up hot over most of the area. A new shortwave moving through
SRN Canada will an bring an increasing chance for rain, possibly
as early as Tuesday afternoon over western sections of the
forecast area.

There are differences in timing of the rain with the ECMWF
suggesting it holds off until Tuesday night. Blended MOS POPs
show a small chance of showers moving into western sections
Tuesday afternoon, but the highest POPs are reserved for the
overnight.

Cyclonic flow aloft will then dominate the flow pattern through
Thursday. The cool air aloft will help trigger a few mainly
diurnal showers Wednesday and Thursday. The showers will tend to
favor northern and western higher elevations. Temperatures will
be significantly cooler for the second half of the week.

&&

.AVIATION /15Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/...
Almost solid area of showers/rain running right thru the central
part of the area from SE to NW is sliding only slowly to the
east. Breaks in the sky cover will allow it to get unstable and
make sct-nmrs TSRA this aftn. Reductions to MVFR are likely and
some IFR is possible through early aftn in BFD, and 20z in the
central terminals, and 22z in MDT/LNS.

A final push of drier air will move through this evening and
early tonight. Thus, a few shra/tsra are possible in BFD between
23z and 02z - but the other terminals should stay dry this
evening and tonight. Fog is possible for most of the area
tonight, but more so in the SE where the dry air arrives later.
Lower clouds should form over the NW mtns tonight, but these
should stop around the old AOO-UNV-IPT line.

An upper level trough and rather strong forcing passing
directly overhead in the cooler air aloft could make sct
shra/tsra across the northern third/half of PA on Sat aftn.

Much drier air will make for a mainly-VFR Sun-Mon with only
valley fog in the AM a potential issue.

.OUTLOOK...

Sun-Mon...No sig wx.

Tue...SHRA/TSRA poss.

&&

.CTP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.

&&

SYNOPSIS...Dangelo/La Corte
NEAR TERM...Dangelo
SHORT TERM...La Corte
LONG TERM...La Corte
AVIATION...Dangelo/Martin
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 18, 4:06 AM EDT, 9 hours 36 minutes before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 18, 12:33 PM EDT, 1 hour 9 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service State College PA
1233 PM EDT FRI AUG 18 2017

PAZ025>027-181700-
Blair PA-Huntingdon PA-Mifflin PA-
1233 PM EDT FRI AUG 18 2017

...SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT FOR HUNTINGDON AND MIFFLIN COUNTIES
UNTIL 100 PM EDT...

At 1233 PM EDT, Doppler radar indicated showers along a line
extending from near Franklinville to near Huntingdon to near Shy
Beaver. Movement was east at 45 mph.

Wind gusts up to 50 mph are possible.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

These storms may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio
stations and available television stations for additional information
and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.

&&

LAT...LON 4023 7824 4030 7826 4025 7829 4027 7834
      4044 7813 4069 7812 4072 7804 4069 7794
      4074 7783 4072 7777 4073 7772 4072 7771
      4081 7747 4064 7748 4028 7794 4021 7822
TIME...MOT...LOC 1633Z 248DEG 40KT 4064 7804 4047 7806 4029 7825

Dangelo
Special weather statement, Aug 18, 1:42 PM EDT, 0 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service State College PA
142 PM EDT FRI AUG 18 2017

PAZ026>028-181815-
Juniata PA-Huntingdon PA-Mifflin PA-
142 PM EDT FRI AUG 18 2017

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT WESTERN HUNTINGDON...MIFFLIN...
AND EASTERN JUNIATA COUNTIES UNTIL 215 PM EDT...

At 141 PM EDT, Doppler radar indicated a strong thunderstorm near
Mount Union and Shirleysburg, moving east at 30 mph.

Wind gusts up to 50 mph are possible.

Locations impacted include...
Perulack, Spruce Hill, East Waterford, Walnut, Mexico, Honey Grove,
Blacklog, Port Royal, Atkinson Mills, Longfellow, Shirleysburg,
Newton Hamilton and McVeytown.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio
stations and available television stations for additional information
and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.

&&

LAT...LON 4029 7791 4052 7777 4055 7735 4045 7743
      4040 7754 4038 7753 4035 7759 4028 7768
TIME...MOT...LOC 1741Z 253DEG 27KT 4033 7781

Dangelo

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 18, 1:21 AM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPLycoming54 min
Aug 18, 12:33 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPHuntingdon, Mifflin27 min
Aug 18, 2:02 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPSchuylkill43 min
Aug 18, 2:10 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPCumberland, Perry35 min
Aug 18, 2:21 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPLebanon, Schuylkill39 min
Aug 18, 2:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLebanon43 min
Aug 18, 2:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCumberland, Dauphin, Juniata, Perry, York54 min
Aug 18, 3:27 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPLancaster33 min
Aug 18, 3:32 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPYork43 min
Aug 18, 4:11 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPLancaster34 min
Aug 18, 4:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLancaster52 min

Nearby

Special Weather Statements in Pennsylvania, 2017Every special weather statement in 2017

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.