A few strong thunderstorms developed along a pre-frontal trough in the afternoon on August 22nd. While instability was present, shear was lacking, which lead to most storms remaining below severe thresholds.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS PBZ wrote it up.
A few strong thunderstorms developed along a pre-frontal trough in the afternoon on August 22nd. While instability was present, shear was lacking, which lead to most storms remaining below severe thresholds.
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 Pittsburgh, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 22, 1:03 PM EST, 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 203 PM EDT THU AUG 22 2013 .SYNOPSIS... SHOWERS WILL BE LIKELY AS A COLD FRONT CROSSES THE AREA THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/... SHOWERS HAVE REALLY TAKEN THEIR TIME GETTING THEIR ACT TOGETHER. SHOWERS HAVE FINALLY REDEVELOPED TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF PITTSBURGH...WHILE LINE HAS GENERALLY HELD TOGETHER FROM THE WESTERN LAKE ERIE SHORELINE AS IT MOVED INTO EASTERN OHIO AND THE NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA PANHANDLE. HAVE CHANGED POPS FOR TIMING OF PRECIPITATION BASED ON RADAR TRENDS. THAT BEING SAID...AREAS SUCH AS MERCER AND VENANGO COUNTY MAY REMAIN COMPLETELY DRY. THE LAST FEW RUNS OF THE HRRR ATTEMPT TO HAVE ANOTHER LINE OF SHOWERS DEVELOP ACROSS THE INTERSTATE 80 CORRIDOR WITH THE ACTUAL FRONTAL PASSAGE LATE THIS AFTERNOON...BUT THE HRRR ALSO INDICATED THAT THE CURRENT LINE OF SHOWERS WAS GOING TO HANG TOGETHER ALONG THE I-80 CORRIDOR WHICH DID NOT HAPPEN. HAVE STILL KEPT POPS GOING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS IN ALL LOCATIONS. && .SHORT TERM /6 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY/... SOUTHWARD IMPETUS FOR THE TRANSLATION OF THE FRONT SEEMS LIKE IT SLOWLY FADES GOING INTO TONIGHT AND ESPECIALLY FRIDAY MORNING AS THE MID-LEVEL FORCING ASSOCIATED WITH THE SYSTEM WILL HAVE ALREADY SCREAMED EASTWARD INTO SOUTHERN QUEBEC AND MARITIME CANADA BY FRIDAY MORNING. THIS LEAVES THE FRONT'S FORWARD PROGRESS TO SLOW FAIRLY RAPIDLY AS IT STARTS TO LOSE DEFINITION THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING. WITH THE FRONT HUNG UP...BOTH THE GFS AND NAM LIKE THE IDEA OF RUNNING A SECONDARY VORT DOWN THE BOUNDARY LATE TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY MORNING THAT MANAGES TO CLIP THE SOUTHERN AND ESPECIALLY SOUTHEASTERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. DEEP LAYER WESTERLY FLOW COMBINED WITH INSTABILITY AS WELL AS THE INTERACTION WITH THE RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF THE UPPER JET THAT WILL BE SITUATED OVER NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA BY THAT TIME SHOULD ALLOW FOR FAIRLY WIDESPREAD SHOWER DEVELOPMENT OVERNIGHT INTO FRIDAY MORNING ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN ZONES. POPS WERE INCREASED SUBSTANTIALLY IN THIS AREA TO ACCOUNT FOR BOTH LARGE SCALE AS WELL AS OROGRAPHIC PRECIPITATION ENHANCEMENT. BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON...EVEN THE LAGGARD MODEL SOLUTIONS PEEL LIFT OFF TO THE EAST AND FINALLY ALLOW THE FRONT TO SAG SOUTH OF THE AREA. DRIER AIR QUICKLY MOVES INTO THE REGION...AS SKIES SEEM TO RAPIDLY CLEAR. MUCH COOLER CONDITIONS/CALMER CONDITIONS WILL INFILTRATE THE AREA BY FRIDAY NIGHT WITH ABUNDANT SUNSHINE THROUGH MOST OF THE WEEKEND. THE ONLY POSSIBLE CAVEAT TO THE FORECAST LIES IN THE FACE THAT THE MID AND UPPER RIDGE NEVER MANAGES TO MAKE ITS WAY ALL THE WAY TOWARD OUR REGION. WITH A RIDGE AXIS GENERALLY WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER...AND OFF SHORE TROUGHING BECOMING SEMI- RESIDENT...THAT LEAVES OUR REGION IN PERSISTENT NORTHWESTERLY FLOW. THIS WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES LARGELY IN CHECK THROUGH THE WEEKEND...BUT ALSO LEAVES THE DOOR OPEN TO CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT THAT MAY MANAGE TO SQUEAK OVER THE RIDGE AXIS. PREVIOUS VERSIONS OF THE DGEX/ECMWF DID TRY TO EDGE A BIT OF THIS ACTIVITY TOWARD THE AREA INTO LATE SUNDAY. THE CURRENT RUNS DO NOT FAVOR THIS SOLUTION...SO THE FORECAST WAS KEPT DRY THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND...HOWEVER POPS WERE ALLOWED TO BE NON-ZERO BY SUNDAY TO ACCOUNT FOR THE EXCEEDINGLY SMALL SHOT AT A SHOWER BY LATE IN THE DAY. HOWEVER...ALL IN ALL...A DRY AND FAIRLY SUNNY WEEKEND LOOKS TO BE IN STORE ON ALL CURRENT GUIDANCE WITH TEMPERATURES TRENDING TOWARD NORMAL. FRIES && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... THE MODELS AGREE THAT AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS THROUGH THE LONG TERM. DESPITE THE CONSENSUS IN THE OVERALL UPPER LEVEL PATTERN...THERE REMAINS INHERENT DIFFERENCES IN SHORTWAVE TIMING AND PLACEMENT AS THE MODELS SUGGEST SEVERAL WAVES WILL DROP THROUGH THE NORTHWEST FLOW OVER THE GREAT LAKES/OHIO VALLEY. WITH THIS IN MIND...CONTINUED TO CARRY AT LEAST CHANCE POPS THROUGH MUCH OF THE FORECAST PERIOD. DESPITE NORTHWEST FLOW...BOTH TEMPERATURES AND DEWPOINTS SHOULD INCREASE THROUGH MIDWEEK BRINGING A RETURN TO HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS. FOR NOW...MAINTAINED HIGHS JUST AT OR ABOVE SEASONAL AVERAGES. && .AVIATION /18Z THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... VCTS IN THE TAFS AS THIN LINE OF SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH A COLD FRONT CROSS THE REGION. THE COLD FRONT COMPLETES PASSAGE ACRS THE UPR OH VLY EARLY TONIGHT BUT DEWPOINTS WILL BE SLOW TO FALL SO EXPECT SOME MVFR RESTRICTIONS DUE TO FOG/HAZE IN EARLY MORNING HOURS. .OUTLOOK.../FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... GENERAL VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH THE WEEKEND. && .PBZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MD...NONE. OH...NONE. PA...NONE. WV...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 300 AM EDT THU AUG 22 2013 MDZ001-OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-PAZ007>009-013>016-020>023- 029-031-073>076-WVZ001>004-012-021>023-041-230700- GARRETT-TUSCARAWAS-CARROLL-COLUMBIANA-COSHOCTON-HARRISON- JEFFERSON OH-MUSKINGUM-GUERNSEY-BELMONT-NOBLE-MONROE-MERCER-VENANGO- FOREST-LAWRENCE-BUTLER-CLARION-JEFFERSON PA-BEAVER-ALLEGHENY- ARMSTRONG-INDIANA-WASHINGTON-GREENE-WESTMORELAND-WESTMORELAND RIDGES- FAYETTE-FAYETTE RIDGES-HANCOCK-BROOKE-OHIO-MARSHALL-WETZEL-MARION- MONONGALIA-PRESTON-TUCKER- 300 AM EDT THU AUG 22 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN MARYLAND...EAST CENTRAL OHIO...NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...SOUTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...WEST CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AND NORTHERN PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 125 PM EDT THU AUG 22 2013 PAZ015-016-221800- CLARION PA-JEFFERSON PA- 125 PM EDT THU AUG 22 2013 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT EASTERN CLARION AND WESTERN JEFFERSON COUNTIES... AT 121 PM EDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CLARION...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH AND PENNY SIZE HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... CLARION... LIMESTONE... SUMMERVILLE... BROOKVILLE... PLEASE REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER BY CALLING...412-262-1988...POSTING TO THE NWS PITTSBURGH FACEBOOK PAGE...OR USING TWITTER @NWSPITTSBURGH. LAT...LON 4123 7897 4101 7906 4113 7947 4130 7940
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
210 PM EDT THU AUG 22 2013
PAZ029-221830-
WASHINGTON PA-
210 PM EDT THU AUG 22 2013
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT CENTRAL WASHINGTON COUNTY...
AT 208 PM EDT...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALONG A LINE FROM 3 MILES
WEST OF CANONSBURG TO ENTERPRISE TO 5 MILES WEST OF WASHINGTON...
MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS. HEAVY RAIN WILL
POND WATER ON ROADS AND QUICKLY FILL SMALL STREAMS.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
ENTERPRISE... WASHINGTON...
PLEASE REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER BY CALLING...412-262-1988...POSTING
TO THE NWS PITTSBURGH FACEBOOK PAGE...OR USING TWITTER
@NWSPITTSBURGH.
LAT...LON 4023 8009 4013 8012 4012 8027 4019 8039
4023 8033 4028 8026
KRAMARSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
216 PM EDT THU AUG 22 2013
PAZ029-031-221845-
GREENE PA-WASHINGTON PA-
216 PM EDT THU AUG 22 2013
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT NORTHWESTERN GREENE AND
SOUTHWESTERN WASHINGTON COUNTIES...
AT 214 PM EDT...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALONG A LINE FROM 3 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF CLAYSVILLE TO DALLAS...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.
WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS. HEAVY RAIN WILL
POND WATER ON ROADS AND QUICKLY FILL SMALL STREAMS.
PLEASE REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER BY CALLING...412-262-1988...POSTING
TO THE NWS PITTSBURGH FACEBOOK PAGE...OR USING TWITTER
@NWSPITTSBURGH.
LAT...LON 4011 8031 3996 8038 3994 8047 4002 8052
4011 8051
KRAMARSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 226 PM EDT THU AUG 22 2013 PAZ022-023-073-221900- ARMSTRONG PA-INDIANA PA-WESTMORELAND PA- 226 PM EDT THU AUG 22 2013 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT NORTH CENTRAL WESTMORELAND... SOUTH CENTRAL ARMSTRONG AND SOUTHWESTERN INDIANA COUNTIES... AT 226 PM EDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 3 MILES EAST OF APOLLO...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. HEAVY RAIN WILL POND WATER ON ROADS AND QUICKLY FILL SMALL STREAMS. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... VANDERGRIFT... LEECHBURG... APOLLO... SALTSBURG... PLEASE REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER BY CALLING...412-262-1988...POSTING TO THE NWS PITTSBURGH FACEBOOK PAGE...OR USING TWITTER @NWSPITTSBURGH. LAT...LON 4064 7922 4041 7930 4051 7967 4066 7961 KRAMAR
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 237 PM EDT THU AUG 22 2013 PAZ029-031-221915- GREENE PA-WASHINGTON PA- 237 PM EDT THU AUG 22 2013 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT NORTH CENTRAL GREENE AND SOUTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON COUNTIES... AT 234 PM EDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CLAYSVILLE...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH. WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. HEAVY RAIN WILL POND WATER ON ROADS AND QUICKLY FILL SMALL STREAMS. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... SWARTS... MARIANNA... WAYNESBURG... PLEASE REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER BY CALLING...412-262-1988...POSTING TO THE NWS PITTSBURGH FACEBOOK PAGE...OR USING TWITTER @NWSPITTSBURGH. LAT...LON 4003 7999 3985 8018 4006 8044 4017 8030
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 250 PM EDT THU AUG 22 2013 PAZ023-221915- INDIANA PA- 250 PM EDT THU AUG 22 2013 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT SOUTHWESTERN INDIANA COUNTY... AT 247 PM EDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 6 MILES NORTHEAST OF SALTSBURG...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. HEAVY RAIN WILL POND WATER ON ROADS AND QUICKLY FILL SMALL STREAMS. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... HOMER CITY... PLEASE REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER BY CALLING...412-262-1988...POSTING TO THE NWS PITTSBURGH FACEBOOK PAGE...OR USING TWITTER @NWSPITTSBURGH. LAT...LON 4060 7902 4041 7913 4050 7942 4062 7932 KRAMAR
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 78 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:56 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
State department of highways reported one tree down on Route 286 in Young Township.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, August 2013
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: 475433, 475434.