Well, here I am again. I’m delaying my being struck by lightning post so that I can do this one.
This post will cover the history of Tornado Watches for Western Pennsylvania from 1985 up to present times.
I have always been blessed with a great memory, as it has always been one of my strong points. It’s even been suggested that my memory is photographic, which may be true. I’m very surprised and amazed by some of the things that I can remember.
Anyway, I have always had a great memory of dates. Especially dates for weather events here in the Ohio-Western Pennsylvania region. Thunderstorms and severe weather events, in particular. I can remember every single thunderstorm episode that we’ve had ever since my earliest childhood memories. From 1985 up to present times, I can tell you the exact circumstances of any given severe weather episode for Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, right down to the Watches and Warnings that were issued for any particular day. I even remember the shapes and sizes of the actual Watch Boxes over the years. One time when I was younger, when I visited the Pittsburgh National Weather Service Forecast Office in Moon Township, near the Pittsburgh International Airport, on Saturday, April 9, 1994, the people who were working there that evening were going to look up something in their record books for a specific day, but they didn’t need to after I told them what happened on that day, and they were all very impressed by my memory.
Before going any further, I must point out that I don’t have anything written down, and I am not using any sources to help me, as again, this is all from personal memory, and that’s the honest-to-goodness truth.
With that in mind, onto the list. The following dates are all days where Western Pennsylvania, or at least parts of it, was under a Tornado Watch and their expiration times…Friday, May 31, 1985, one til 11 PM, and then another one til 1 AM…Monday, June 16, 1986, til Midnight…Saturday, April 23, 1988, til 6 PM…Monday, May 9, 1988, til 9 PM…Monday, May 23, 1988, til Midnight…Friday, February 16, 1990, til 9 PM…Friday, June 8, 1990, til 10 PM, and then got extended til 3 AM…Tuesday, August 28, 1990, til 11 PM, and then was replaced by a Severe Thunderstorm Watch til 2 AM…Thursday September 6, 1990, initially was a Severe Thunderstorm Watch til 8 PM, and then was replaced by a Tornado Watch til 1 AM…Friday, September 14, 1990, til 10 PM, and then got extended til Midnight…Tuesday, April 9, 1991, til Midnight…Sunday, July 5, 1992, til 8 PM…Sunday, July 12, 1992, initially started as a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for Northern Ohio til 11 PM, and then was replaced by a Tornado Watch which then included Northwestern Pennsylvania til 1 AM…Monday, July 13, 1992, til 9 PM…Wednesday, September 9, 1992, til 10 PM…Wednesday, June 9, 1993, til 11 PM…Monday, July 26, 1993, til 7 PM…Tuesday, August 31, 1993, til 8 PM, and then was replaced by a Severe Thunderstorm Watch til 10 PM…Wednesday…November 17, 1993, til 5 PM…Friday, April 15, 1994, til 7 PM, and then was replaced by a Severe Thunderstorm Watch til 10 PM…Sunday, August 28, 1994, as the first Tornado Watch was issued for Northwestern Pennsylvania til 5 PM, and then a Tornado Watch was issued for all of Western Pennsylvania til 11 PM…Wednesday, May 10, 1995, til 10 PM…Sunday, May 14, 1995, til 10 AM, and then another Tornado Watch was issued later that day for Northwestern Pennsylvania til 9 PM…Monday, April 15, 1996, til 10 PM…Saturday, April 20, 1996, til 10 PM…Friday, July 19, 1996, til 6 PM…Friday, September 6, 1996, for extreme Southwestern Pennsylvania til 6 PM, due to the remnants of Hurricane Fran…Sunday, May 31, 1998, initially started as a Severe Thunderstorm Watch til 3 PM, and then was replaced by a Tornado Watch til 10 PM, and then another Tornado Watch was issued til 1 AM…Tuesday, June 2, 1998, til 10 PM…Wednesday, September 29, 1999, til 10 PM…Monday, May 21, 2001, til 11 PM…Monday, April 15, 2002, til 10 PM…Sunday, April 28, 2002, til 5 PM…Sunday, July 28, 2002, for Northwestern Pennsylvania til 8 PM…Sunday, November 10, 2002, til Midnight…Sunday, May 11, 2003, til 5 PM…Saturday, September 27, 2003, til 6 AM…Saturday, May 22, 2004, til 11 PM…Friday, August 19, 2005, Northwestern Pennsylvania til 10 PM…Sunday, November 6, 2005, initially started as a Severe Thunderstorm Watch til 6 PM, and then was upgraded to a Tornado Watch til 6 PM…Wednesday, November 9, 2005, initially started as a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for Northwestern Pennsylvania til 7 PM, and then was replaced by a Tornado Watch for all of Western Pennsylvania til 10 PM…Monday, April 3, 2006, til 5 PM…Thursday, April 26, 2007, til 10 PM…Wednesday, July 4, 2007, til 9 PM…Saturday, May 31, 2008, til 11 AM…Wednesday, June 17, 2009, til 10 PM, and then was replaced by a Severe Thunderstorm Watch til 1 AM…Saturday, June 5, 2010, initially started as a Severe Thunderstorm Watch til 9 PM, and then was replaced by a Tornado Watch til 9 PM…Sunday, June 6, 2010, til 9 AM, and then another Tornado Watch was issued til 3 PM…Tuesday, October 26, 2010, til 9 PM…Monday, February 28, 2011, til 1 PM…Wednesday, March 23, 2011, til 9 PM…Wednesday, April 27, 2011, til 10 PM…Monday, May 23, 2011, Northwestern Pennsylvania til 9 PM, and then til 10 PM…Wednesday, August 24, 2011, what initially started as a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for extreme Northwestern Pennsylvania til 5 AM was then upgraded to a Tornado Watch til 5 AM…Monday, November 14, 2011, til 11 PM…Friday, June 1, 2012, Tornado Watch for South-Central Pennsylvania til 9 PM, and then a Tornado Watch was issued for North-Central Pennsylvania til Midnight…Wednesday, June 12, 2013, Tornado Watch for Southwestern Pennsylvania til Midnight, and then was replaced by a Particularly Dangerous Situation Severe Thunderstorm Watch for West-Central and Southwestern Pennsylvania til 6 AM…Wednesday, June 11, 2014, Tornado Watch for Southwestern and South-Central Pennsylvania til 9 PM… and finally, Sunday, July 27, 2014, til 9 PM.
Well, there you have it. Again, all from my head.
Eventually, I will list the Severe Thunderstorm Watch dates for Western Pennsylvania. Of course, for Western Pennsylvania, there has been considerably more Severe Thunderstorm Watches as opposed to Tornado Watches over the years. The Severe Thunderstorm Watch dates list will be quite extensive and very long.
Also, I will eventually get more into specific details regarding particular severe weather episodes, as it will all be from personal memory.
Future postings will go more into specific detail about the aforementioned dates and more from my own personal recollections, and the date entries will be quite lengthy, as I will be providing minute-by-minutes accounts, include the Watches and Warnings for specific areas and counties.
I could write a whole book about severe weather events in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, and it would all be done by memory.
I would like to say one more thing before I’m done…To some people, this post may appear that I’m boasting, in which I’m not, as it’s not my nature at all to do such a thing, and that was certainly not my intention. To quote Clark Kent from the very first “Superman” movie, “Is a bird showing off when it flies?”. I have been blessed with a gift and am very thankful for. I am not writing this to show off. The purpose of this is for, in the future, if people wanted to know such information, this along with future postings that I will be writing, could be used as a reference.
Well, I’ll close for now. That was a lot of fun. It gives my mind a good exercise.
Until the next blog.
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