Showers and thunderstorms developed with a passing cold front on the afternoon of the 21st. Steep low level lapse rates and modest instability allowed for a few strong to severe storms, with gusty winds.
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.
Showers and thunderstorms developed with a passing cold front on the afternoon of the 21st. Steep low level lapse rates and modest instability allowed for a few strong to severe storms, with gusty winds.
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 Jul 21, 9:01 AM EST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 1001 AM EDT TUE JUL 21 2015 .SYNOPSIS... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A PASSING COLD FRONT TODAY WILL BE FOLLOWED BY DRY WEATHER AND SEASONAL TEMPERATURES THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... SHOWERS ALONG THE SOUTHERN BOUNDARY HAVE BEEN DIMINISHING AND ADJUSTED POPS ACCOUNT FOR THE CHANGE IN THE UPDATE. HAVE ALSO MADE MINOR CHANGES TO POPS AND WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON TO BETTER TIME THE FRONTAL PASSAGE COUPLED WITH THE PASSING SHORTWAVE TROUGH ALOFT. ENOUGH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND FORCING ARE AVAILABLE FOR SHOWERS TO DEVELOP WITH ISOLATED THUNDER ACROSS THE REGION BUT THE MORNING SOUNDING DISPLAYS SUBSTANTIAL WARM AIR ALOFT TO HELP LIMIT ANY ORGANIZED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. DRY AIR ENTRAINMENT IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONT BY THE LATE EVENING WITH DEVELOPING SUBSIDENCE IS EXPECTED TO BRING COMFORTABLE CONDITIONS WITH A CLEAR SKY TONIGHT. && .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... HIGH PRESSURE WILL BE THE DOMINANT FEATURE THROUGH THE SECOND HALF OF THE WEEK...RESULTING IN DRY CONDITIONS AND SEASONABLY COOL...TO AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... DRY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE INTO NEXT WEEKEND WITH AN OVERALL WARMING TREND IN TEMPERATURES. THE NEXT CHANCE OF SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE EARLY NEXT WEEK AS A FRONTAL SYSTEM CROSSES THE REGION. && .AVIATION /14Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH A CROSSING COLD FORNT THIS AFTERNOON WILL BRING POSSIBLE RESTRICTIONS...BUT ONLY A VCTS FOR PORTS. DRY HIGH PRESSURE WILL GIVE VFR TONIGHT. OUTLOOK...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... GENERAL VFR IS ANTICIPATED INTO THE WEEKEND. && .PBZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MD...NONE. OH...NONE. PA...NONE. WV...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 330 AM EDT TUE JUL 21 2015 MDZ001-OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-PAZ007>009-013>016-020>023- 029-031-073>076-WVZ001>004-012-021>023-041-220730- 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- 330 AM EDT TUE JUL 21 2015 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...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. 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
1137 AM EDT TUE JUL 21 2015
PAZ007-008-013-211615-
VENANGO-MERCER-LAWRENCE-
1137 AM EDT TUE JUL 21 2015
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT CENTRAL MERCER...SOUTHWESTERN
VENANGO AND NORTHEASTERN LAWRENCE COUNTIES...
AT 1136 AM EDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS NEAR HERMITAGE...MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
WINDS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH AND HALF INCH HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS
STORM.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
HERMITAGE...SHARON...GROVE CITY...SHARPSVILLE...GREENVILLE...
MERCER...PLAIN GROVE TOWNSHIP...CLARK...FREDONIA...JACKSON CENTER...
BARKEYVILLE AND VOLANT.
THIS INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING HIGHWAYS...
INTERSTATE 79 IN PENNSYLVANIA BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 105 AND 123.
INTERSTATE 80 IN PENNSYLVANIA BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 6 AND 31.
LAT...LON 4117 7985 4117 8000 4102 8014 4124 8052
4126 8052 4140 8040
TIME...MOT...LOC 1536Z 302DEG 30KT 4129 8039The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 78 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:51 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Local broadcast media reported trees down in Lackawannock Township. One tree fell onto a house.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, July 2015
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: 594646.