July 26, 2005

Erie Pennsylvania
Claim
• Date: July 26, 2005
• Location: Erie, Pennsylvania
• What: A large concert that was held outside had its pavilion knocked
down and speakers toppled

• Why is this an issue?: There has been a dispute regarding the liability
of the damage caused. The band claims that it was a rainstorm while
the park owners are not so sure.
• Owners require proof that a strong thunderstorm moved through the
area along with an estimate of the top wind speeds.
METARs!
Storm Reports CLE
wfo significance phenomena iso_issued

W FF
2005-07-
16T23:07Z
iso_expired

2005-07-
17T02:00Z
issued expired

2005-07-16 2005-07-17
23:07 02:00
eventid name

Flash Flood
14 Warning
ph_name sig_name

Flash Flood Warning

2005-07- 2005-07- 2005-07-22 2005-07-22 Marine

CLE W MA 22T09:41Z 22T11:45Z 09:41 11:45 40 Warning Marine Warning

2005-07- 2005-07- 2005-07-22 2005-07-22 Marine

CLE W MA 22T09:41Z 22T11:45Z 09:41 11:45 40 Warning Marine Warning

2005-07- 2005-07- 2005-07-22 2005-07-22 Flash Flood

CLE W FF 22T16:41Z 22T19:45Z 16:41 19:45 16 Warning Flash Flood Warning

2005-07- 2005-07- 2005-07-25 2005-07-25 Marine

CLE W MA 25T02:46Z 25T04:45Z 02:46 04:45 41 Warning Marine Warning

2005-07- 2005-07- 2005-07-25 2005-07-25 Marine

CLE W MA 25T02:46Z 25T04:45Z 02:46 04:45 41 Warning Marine Warning

2005-07- 2005-07- 2005-07-25 2005-07-25 Tornado

CLE W TO 25T03:46Z 25T04:45Z 03:46 04:45 1 Warning Tornado Warning

2005-07- 2005-07- 2005-07-25 2005-07-25 Marine

CLE W MA 25T04:43Z 25T06:45Z 04:43 06:45 42 Warning Marine Warning

2005-07- 2005-07- 2005-07-25 2005-07-25 Marine

CLE W MA 25T04:43Z 25T06:45Z 04:43 06:45 42 Warning Marine Warning

Severe Severe
2005-07- 2005-07- 2005-07-25 2005-07-25 Thunderstor Thunderstor
CLE W SV 25T04:50Z 25T06:00Z 04:50 06:00 153 m Warning m Warning

2005-07- 2005-07- 2005-07-25 2005-07-25 Flash Flood

CLE W FF 25T05:02Z 25T08:00Z 05:02 08:00 17 Warning Flash Flood Warning

2005-07- 2005-07- 2005-07-26 2005-07-26 Marine

CLE W MA 26T20:58Z 26T23:00Z 20:58 23:00 45 Warning Marine Warning

2005-07- 2005-07- 2005-07-26 2005-07-26 Marine

CLE W MA 26T20:58Z 26T23:00Z 20:58 23:00 45 Warning Marine Warning
Pictures from July 26, 2005

Source: The Erie Times

Sources
• Storm Events Database
• Iowa State Mesonet
• University Cooperation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
• Radar Scope
• National Weather Service (Cleveland)
• OGIMET
• NWS METAR Decoder (PDF)
Summary
On July 26, 2005, a large outdoor concert was being held along the lakeshore in the city of Erie, Pennsylvania. During the evening, the
concert had its pavilion knocked down and speakers toppled. A dispute has arisen between the band and the park owners over li ability of damages. The
band claims it was a windstorm that was responsible for the damages while the park owners are not sure about this claim. The park owners require proof
that a strong thunderstorm moved through the region along with an estimate of the top wind speeds.
Looking to see if any severe weather reports came in that day points, there are numerous severe weather reports in the area. Figure one
shows a map of the severe weather reports (wind, hail, and tornadoes) that were submitted on July 26, 2005. Based on the map there are numerous
reports of severe wind which are represented by the blue dots. Based on this data, it can be concluded that some significant weather event happened in
the region on this day, most likely a strong windstorm. We looked at the storm events database, which is managed by the Natio nal Weather Service to
confirm whether this was the case or not. Figure two shows what the storm events data base has for Erie County for that day. It says that It says that “a
line of sever thunderstorms moved off Lake Erie and into northern Erie County.” This supports the claim by the band that a th understorm had moved
through the lakeshore where the concert was taking place. The report goes on to say, “Winds of 60 to 70 mph accompanied the l ine of storms as it
moved quickly east across the county. A wind gust of 61 mph was measured at the Walnut Creek Access.” The Walnut Creek access is an area right on the
lakeshore of Lake Erie. A wind gust of 61 mph is within severe criteria for severe thunderstorms, which is anything greater t han 58 mph.
Since there was not a weather observation site exactly at the park where the concert was taking place, we will have to make some
assumptions regarding the weather in that specific location. Since the Walnut Creek Access is only five miles from the lakesh ore of Erie, we can assume
that what measurements were taken at the Access are very similar to what happened at the park. We are also going to assume based on the storm
reports that there was a severe storm that move over the park since there is an area of severe wind reports that stretches al l the way from Illinois to New
York with Erie being right in the middle.
Since there is not a weather observation site right at the park where the concert was, we do not know exactly what the weather was there
throughout the evening. This could mean that the wind speed could be different that was reported elsewhere nearby. The wind s peed during the storm
over the park could be lower or higher than what was reported at the Walnut Access. One other potential area of uncertainty with our data is whether
the weather observation instruments were accurate in their measurements. It is possible that the weather instrument was not o perating correctly and
therefore could have faulty data. This is doubtful however giving the widespread scope of the severe wind reports; thus a fau lty data reading is unlikely.
Based on all of the available data, it can be concluded that a severe thunderstorm moved through the region where the concert was taking
place. The numerous severe wind reports support this claim as well as an observation of a 61-mph wind gust five miles away from where the concert was
taking place.