Alert archive / West Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2026

Mesoscale Discussion 1997

August 16, 202626 counties in Ohio; 12 counties in Pennsylvania; 34 counties in West Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Aug 16, 2026, 2:28 PM EDT for 26 counties in Ohio; 12 counties in Pennsylvania; 34 counties in West Virginia. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 2026, 2:28 PM EDT (18:28 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 2026, 4:30 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Concerning
Severe thunderstorm watch 586
All 72 counties

Athens County, OH, Belmont County, OH, Carroll County, OH, Columbiana County, OH, Coshocton County, OH, Gallia County, OH, Guernsey County, OH, Harrison County, OH, Hocking County, OH, Holmes County, OH, Jackson County, OH, Jefferson County, OH, Mahoning County, OH, Meigs County, OH, Monroe County, OH, Morgan County, OH, Muskingum County, OH, Noble County, OH, Perry County, OH, Portage County, OH, Stark County, OH, Summit County, OH, Trumbull County, OH, Tuscarawas County, OH, Vinton County, OH, Washington County, OH, Allegheny County, PA, Armstrong County, PA, Beaver County, PA, Butler County, PA, Clarion County, PA, Fayette County, PA, Greene County, PA, Lawrence County, PA, Mercer County, PA, Venango County, PA, Washington County, PA, Westmoreland County, PA, Barbour County, WV, Boone County, WV, Braxton County, WV, Brooke County, WV, Cabell County, WV, Calhoun County, WV, Clay County, WV, Doddridge County, WV, Fayette County, WV, Gilmer County, WV, Hancock County, WV, Harrison County, WV, Jackson County, WV, Kanawha County, WV, Lewis County, WV, Lincoln County, WV, Marion County, WV, Marshall County, WV, Mason County, WV, Monongalia County, WV, Nicholas County, WV, Ohio County, WV, Pleasants County, WV, Preston County, WV, Putnam County, WV, Ritchie County, WV, Roane County, WV, Taylor County, WV, Tyler County, WV, Upshur County, WV, Webster County, WV, Wetzel County, WV, Wirt County, WV, Wood County, WV

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:30 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 108 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 2026-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 51 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 2026-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 49 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
51 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
636 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

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SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 15, 9:23 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChampaign, Delaware, Franklin, Madison, Union97 min
Aug 16, 11:56 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAshland, Athens, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton and 26 more64 min
Aug 16, 1:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAthens, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Gallia and 20 more9 hr
Aug 16, 6:00 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Hamilton60 min
Aug 16, 6:31 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGallia, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Vinton89 min
Aug 16, 3:28 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBedford, Fulton, Somerset2 hr
Aug 16, 4:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield and 8 more6 hr
Aug 16, 7:00 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Cumberland, York60 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in West Virginia, 2026Mesoscale Discussions in Ohio, 2026Mesoscale Discussions in Pennsylvania, 2026Every mesoscale discussion in 2026

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.