Thunderstorm Wind, Venango
- When
- August 16, 4:14 PM EST
- Where
- Venango County, Utica
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Coordinates
- 41.420, -79.950
Thunderstorm winds downed trees.
Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, August 16, 1997
An extremely unstable, moist air mass formed ahead of a cold front. The lifted index, a measure of instability, was near minus 11 and the Convective Available Potential Energy values approached 5000 joules/kilogram across southwest Pennsylvania.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS PBZ wrote it up.
An extremely unstable, moist air mass formed ahead of a cold front. The lifted index, a measure of instability, was near minus 11 and the Convective Available Potential Energy values approached 5000 joules/kilogram across southwest Pennsylvania. Widespread severe weather was reported throughout western Pennsylvania, much of East Central Ohio and Northern West Virginia throughout the afternoon and evening hours.
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 101 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:12 UTC.
Event by event
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heat in Maryland, August 16 to 17, 1997
- Heat in Virginia, August 16 to 17, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Ohio, August 16, 1997
- Heat in District of Columbia, August 16 to 17, 1997
- Heat in Pennsylvania, August 16 to 17, 1997
- Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, August 16, 1997
- Damaging Winds in New York, August 16, 1997
- Tornado in Pennsylvania, August 16, 1997
- Tornado in Pennsylvania, August 16, 1997
- Damaging Wind in New Jersey, August 16, 1997
- Damaging Wind in New Jersey, August 16, 1997
- Damaging Wind in New Jersey, August 16, 1997
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, August 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5622970.