Widely scattered showers and thunderstorms developed over southern Pennsylvania during the afternoon of July 4, 2017. One of these storms produced wind damage near Saxton in Bedford County.
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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.
Widely scattered showers and thunderstorms developed over southern Pennsylvania during the afternoon of July 4, 2017. One of these storms produced wind damage near Saxton in Bedford County.
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 Jul 4, 11:35 AM EST, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service State College PA 1235 PM EDT Tue Jul 4 2017 .SYNOPSIS... An area of high pressure sliding by to our north will bring a predominantly warm and dry Independence Day and evening with a light northeast breeze. A frontal boundary lurking to our south and extending from the Middle Ohio River Valley to the Virginias, will drift north for the second half of the week returning cloud cover, humidity and an increasing chance for showers and scattered thunderstorms. Dry weather. lower humidity and slightly cooler temperatures will follow for this weekend. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 10 PM THIS EVENING/... Two fairly well-defined east/west theta-E boundaries will be stretched across central and southern PA this afternoon and evening, providing the focus for widely scattered showers and isolated TSRA. Last few runs of the HRRR, along with a blend of earlier HIRES CAMs, and current regional 88D loop indicates a strong signal for convection developing over the Laurel highlands, the WV/MD panhandles and into south-central PA during the afternoon and into the late evening hours. These models (confirmed by the radar loop) appear to be right on target. Given isolated to widely scattered coverage and relatively brief duration, it's hard to imagine enough rain to completely cancel outdoor plans. However, with PWAT values around 1.5 inches across the srn third of the commonwealth, any convection could bring brief torrential rain and perhaps some wind gusts up to 35 mph right in the immediate vicinity of the precip core descent. Also of importance for evening firework festivities and smoke dispersion will be wind direction and speed. Current hi res models indicate that mean wind in the sfc-500m AGL layer late today and this evening will be from the northeast across the region north of I-80, then more ENE over the central third of the state, and finally easterly heading further south to the Mason/Dixon line. Mean wind speed in this layer will be around 10 kts across the north, and 4-7 kts over the southern half of PA. Max temps for the mid-late afternoon will range from the upper 70s in the Northern Alleghenies to mid 80s in the Lower Susquehanna Valley. Dewpoints will be in the comfortable range/50s over the northern half of the area with increasing humidity with southern extent reaching an uncomfortable 65-70F along the PA/MD border. The Coverage and intensity of afternoon/evening convection over far south-central PA should exhibit a decreasing/weakening trend into tonight although still cannot rule out an isolated shower/Tstorm by the time fireworks are set to go off. && .SHORT TERM /10 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... High pressure moving off the New England coast will pivot the (quasi-stationary-warm) frontal boundary to more of a NW-SE orientation on Wed. An increasingly moist east-southeast flow along with sufficient instability should support some orographically enhanced convection along the Allegheny Front from the Laurel Highlands into the NW mountains. Max POPs are over the SW 1/4 of the CWA. A slow moving, well-defined mid level shortwave is fcst to track east from the Mid MS Valley into the northern Mid Atlantic region by early Friday. Model spread between the GFS/ECMWF increases on Thursday concerning the amplification of the mid level wave so opted for a compromise of the NBM/ECENS MOS which resulted in likely POPs Thu/Thu night. With PWs above normal, some moderate to locally heavy rainfall is possible. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... Model consensus is that the synoptic upper trough will amplify over the eastern U.S. with an upstream ridge persisting in the west at least through day 7. Several shortwave troughs embedded within the eastern U.S. trough will move through the Ohio Valley and Northeast States. The amplifying upper trough will be associated with a cold front that will move through the area Friday and could be accompanied by a threat for strong/severe Tstorms. A push of below normal PW behind the aforementioned front should spell a drier period heading into the weekend with near to below average temperatures for this time of year. && .AVIATION /16Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Expect widespread VFR conditions for the rest of today. However, scattered afternoon thunderstorms will form (first across the Laurel Highlands INVOF KJST and KAOO and drift slowly east near and just to the north of stalled frontal boundary across southern Pa/northern VA. Therefore, can't rule out a brief reduction at the southern PA airfields this afternoon and evening. .OUTLOOK... Wed...AM low cigs possible JST/AOO. Thu...AM low cigs possible. Fri...AM low cigs possible. PM tsra impacts possible. Sat...No sig wx expected. && .CTP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && SYNOPSIS...Lambert NEAR TERM...Lambert/Steinbugl SHORT TERM...Steinbugl LONG TERM...Steinbugl AVIATION...Lambert/Gartner
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service State College PA 405 AM EDT Tue Jul 4 2017 PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>028-033>037-041-042-045-046-049>053- 056>059-063>066-050815- Warren-McKean-Potter-Elk-Cameron-Northern Clinton-Clearfield- Northern Centre-Southern Centre-Cambria-Blair-Huntingdon-Mifflin- Juniata-Somerset-Bedford-Fulton-Franklin-Tioga-Northern Lycoming- Sullivan-Southern Clinton-Southern Lycoming-Union-Snyder-Montour- Northumberland-Columbia-Perry-Dauphin-Schuylkill-Lebanon-Cumberland- Adams-York-Lancaster- 405 AM EDT Tue Jul 4 2017 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...Wednesday through Monday. The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low.
The State College radar (KCCX), 81 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:55 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A severe thunderstorm produced winds estimated near 60 mph and knocked down trees and wires near the intersection of Saxton Road and 16th Street.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, July 2017
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: 700049.