A weakening cold front approached central Pennsylvania during the evening, with slow-moving showers and thunderstorms developing ahead of the front. One of these storms produced wind damage across eastern Clearfield County.
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 CTP wrote it up.
A weakening cold front approached central Pennsylvania during the evening, with slow-moving showers and thunderstorms developing ahead of the front. One of these storms produced wind damage across eastern Clearfield County. As the evening progressed, the severe threat transitioned to a heavy rain threat.
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 28, 1:08 PM EST, 1 hour 32 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service State College PA 208 PM EDT SUN AUG 28 2016 .SYNOPSIS... A weak cold front will sag slowly south tonight and Monday morning. High pressure will bring another period of warmer than normal and mainly dry weather for Monday into Wednesday. A cold front will move across the commonwealth Wednesday followed by a refreshingly cooler airmass with low humidity Thursday through Saturday. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Spotty convection has finally started to pop over the western higher terrain in an axis of deep moisture and mixed layer Capes in the 1500-2000J range. So far warm mid levels and weak lapse rates have provided an effective lid, but slowly falling upper heights/temps with the approach of a weak mid level shortwave should help steepen lapse rates and provide more support for convection as we enter the late afternoon and early evening. Latest HRRR lights up a NE-SW band over the north-central part of the forecast area and doesn't move it very far very fast. it just sort of sags it slowly south while weakening later in the evening. The NCAR ensemble does something similar, showing just a slow settling south in time of eventual convective developments. Above normal temps will continue today with highs expected to range from the mid 80s (mtns) to near 90F in the Lower Susq Valley. Guidance suggests little if any shower activity lingering past the midnight hour so the forecast shows things drying out later in the evening with much of the overnight remaining dry. Lows generally in the 60s will average some 10-15 deg above normal. && .SHORT TERM /MONDAY/... The weak cold front will stall along or just south of the Mason/Dixon Line Monday afternoon providing the low level convergence to help focus what will be mainly scattered convection during the afternoon over southern PA. High temps Monday will vary from near 80 across the NW Mountains to around 90 in the southern valleys. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/... The extended period looks like it will feature a transition from a persistent upper-level ridge over the eastern United States to a weak upper-level trough by mid to late week. As a result, above-normal temperatures through the Tuesday-Wednesday timeframe will transition to near or a little below normal by the end of the period. A weakening cold front will push slowly SE through the Commonwealth tonight and early Monday Sunday night into Monday morning accompanied by isolated to scattered showers/thunderstorms. The frontal boundary is expected to wash out near or just south of the Mason/Dixon line during the day Monday. Abundant low-level moisture, mesoscale convergence and some orographic lift/heating via the east to NE low level flow regime across the mountains of SW PA will focus the best chance for showers and scattered thunderstorms there Monday afternoon. Monday night through Wed morning looks to be dry with generally light wind and just the possibility of patchy early morning valley fog. Medium range guidance agrees with a second-stronger cold front pushing SE across the area Wednesday afternoon or early Thursday, with a renewed chance for showers and thunderstorms. This front will be followed by a cool-down for the end of next week. Max temps should be mainly in the 70s Thursday into the weekend over the northern and western higher terrain, with low to mid 80s elsewhere as an upper trough amplifies from central Quebec...to the Mid Atlantic Piedmont. && .AVIATION /18Z SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... All terminals are VFR as of late morning and will continue into the afternoon and evening hours. Scattered thunderstorms will cause brief local restrictions late today into the evening hours over the NW 1/2 of the airspace ahead of a weak boundary pushing out of the the Lower Great Lakes. Light winds and high boundary layer moisture could result in some low ceilings and fog after midnight into early Monday morning. Outlook... Mon...VFR. Isold PM TS possible southern Pa. Tue...Patchy AM fog, then VFR. Wed...Sct PM TS impacts possible. Thu-Fri...No sig wx expected. && .CTP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && SYNOPSIS...La Corte NEAR TERM...La Corte SHORT TERM...La Corte LONG TERM...La Corte/Lambert AVIATION...La Corte
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 456 AM EDT SUN AUG 28 2016 PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-037-041-042-045-046-290900- WARREN-MCKEAN-POTTER-ELK-CAMERON-NORTHERN CLINTON-CLEARFIELD- NORTHERN CENTRE-SOUTHERN CENTRE-TIOGA-NORTHERN LYCOMING-SULLIVAN- SOUTHERN CLINTON-SOUTHERN LYCOMING- 456 AM EDT SUN AUG 28 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH STRONG WINDS AND HAIL ARE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. PAZ024>028-033>036-049>053-056>059-063>066-290900- CAMBRIA-BLAIR-HUNTINGDON-MIFFLIN-JUNIATA-SOMERSET-BEDFORD-FULTON- FRANKLIN-UNION-SNYDER-MONTOUR-NORTHUMBERLAND-COLUMBIA-PERRY-DAUPHIN- SCHUYLKILL-LEBANON-CUMBERLAND-ADAMS-YORK-LANCASTER- 456 AM EDT SUN AUG 28 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
231 PM EDT SUN AUG 28 2016
PAZ010>012-017-281930-
CLEARFIELD PA-CAMERON PA-ELK PA-NORTHERN CLINTON PA-
231 PM EDT SUN AUG 28 2016
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT PARTS OF CAMERON...ELK...
CLEARFIELD...AND CLINTON COUNTIES UNTIL 330 PM EDT...
AT 231 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR
BRANDY CAMP...MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.
VERY HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED.
WINDS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH ARE POSSIBLE.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
ST. MARYS...MEDIX RUN...BRANDY CAMP...BENEZETTE...BROCKPORT...
CAMERON...FORCE...TRUMAN...HICKS RUN...WEEDVILLE...DRIFTWOOD...
KERSEY...EMPORIUM AND PENFIELD.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM...AND MAY LEAD
TO LOCALIZED FLOODING. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED
ROADWAYS.
&&
LAT...LON 4129 7790 4120 7869 4122 7871 4123 7871
4124 7874 4126 7873 4131 7884 4135 7890
4153 7827
TIME...MOT...LOC 1831Z 254DEG 8KT 4128 7863
LA CORTEThe State College radar (KCCX), 24 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:42 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A severe thunderstorm producing winds estimated near 60 mph knocked down trees near Karthus.
A severe thunderstorm producing winds estimated near 60 mph knocked down trees between Chester Hill and Morrisdale.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, August 2016
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: 647839, 647840.