Name: Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, August 15, 2002
Start: 2002-08-15T19:32
End: 2002-08-15T19:32
Location: 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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 forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, 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 the first event at Aug 15, 2:33 PM EST, 4 hours 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 15, 2:33 PM EST, 4 hours 59 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
333 PM EDT THU AUG 15 2002

AFTERNOON CONVECTION SPARKED BY DIURNAL HEATING AND VORT MAX MOVING
THRU OHIO VALLEY. STORMS STILL EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE AS
EVENING WEARS ON WITH OUTSIDE CHANCE OF A SEVERE GUST OR TWO.  MAIN
THREAT WILL BE TRAINING CELLS WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL OF 1 TO 2
INCHES OR MORE (PRECIPITABLE WATERS ARE APPROACHING 2.00)...BUT
GIVEN LOCATION OF DYNAMICS...EXPECT THIS THREAT MAINLY WEST OF OUR
COUNTRY WARNING FORECAST AREA TONIGHT.  MARGINAL WINDS FOR SEVERE
WEATHER OVERHEAD...20-30KT AT 500MB AND 30-40KT AT 300MB.

DIFFUSE BAROCLINIC ZONE WILL BE SLOW TO MOVE...BASICALLY STALLING
OVER THE REGION.  BASICALLY THE MAIN FORECAST PROBLEM WAS TRYING TO
PIN DOWN TIMING ON MOST LIKELY PERIODS OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS.  FRIDAY AND SATURDAYS ACTION WILL HAVE MAINLY A
DIURNAL MAXIMUM...OWING TO THE LACK OF DYNAMICS.  HOWEVER... LATE
SATURDAY NIGHT WE SHOULD SEE AN INCREASE OF CONVECTION OVER THE OHIO
VALLEY AND EASTERN GREAT LAKES AS A STRONG PUSH OF COOLER AIR
APPROACHES.  TIMING OF THIS FEATURE LOOKS FAVORABLE FOR POSSIBLE SVR
WEATHER OVR CENTRAL PA SUNDAY AFTERNOON.  THEN A COUPLE OF NICE DAYS
ON TAP FOR MON-TUE WITH LOWER HUMIDITY AND PLEASANT TEMPS.  SFC HIGH
PUSHES EASTWARD WEDNESDAY BRINGING A RETURN TO WARMER AND MORE HUMID
CONDITIONS...WITH THE NEXT CHANCE OF SHRA/TS ON THURSDAY AHEAD OF
THE NEXT APPROACHING FRONT.

WORK ZONES ALREADY SENT AS PHLWRKMIS.

.CTP...SPS (SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK) FOR SLIGHT RISK OF SVR TSRA
       THIS EVENING.

MCPHEE/DEVOIR

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 151 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:33 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Lancaster

When: August 15, 7:32 PM EST
Where: Lancaster County, Stevens
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 40.217, -76.150

Trees were down in Stevens.

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

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, August 2002

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: 5311661.