Alert archive / New Jersey / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 30, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

August 5, 1987Camden County, Gloucester County, New Jersey

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 5, 1987, 2:34 PM EDT for Camden County, Gloucester County, New Jersey. It was in force for 41 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Aug 5, 1987, 2:34 PM EDT (18:34 UTC)
Expired
Aug 5, 1987, 3:15 PM EDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Whole counties

Counties Camden County, NJ, Gloucester County, NJ

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 5, 2:58 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Camden, NJ

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Atlantic City In, NJ (KACY), launched 12:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 58 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Atlantic City In, NJ at 12:00Z on 1987-08-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 345 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Atlantic City In, NJ at 12:00Z on 1987-08-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -20 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
345 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1140 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-15 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KPHL 051834
SVRPHL
NJC007-015-051930-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA PA
234 PM EDT WED AUG 5 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 330 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF

SOUTHWEST NEW JERSEY...EASTERN CAMDEN AND EASTERN GLOUCESTER

AT 230 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR WILLIAMSTOWN
IN EASTERN GLOUCESTER COUNTY.  THE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWING VERY
LITTLE MOVEMENT.

 THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM AND PEOPLE IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD BE
PREPARED FOR STRONG DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN
AND LIGHTNING. SHOULD THE STORM APPROACH YOU...SEEK IMMEDIATE
SHELTER. MOBILE HOMES ARE MOST VULNERABLE TO HIGH WINDS AND
SHOULD BE AVOIDED.

 JWH

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 5, 10:46 AM EDT, 3 hours 48 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA, PA
1046 AM EDT WED AUG 05 1987

...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL AND EXCESSIVE RAINFALL POTENTIAL FOR
   EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY...

SHOWERS AND EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER SOUTH CENTRAL AND
SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA THIS MORNING. THIS AREA OF PRECIPITATION
WILL SPREAD EAST INTO SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND SOUTHERN NEW
JERSEY THIS AFTERNOON.

LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS KCOULD OCCUR AS THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
SPREAD ACROSS SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY
AND FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS IS POSSIBLE.

RNS
Special weather statement, Aug 5, 1:50 PM EDT, 44 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA, PA
145 PM EDT WED AUG 05 1987

...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING OVER EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN
PENNSYLVANIA AND SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY...

AT 145 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR WAS SHOWING STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS SCATTERED THROUGH THE PHILADELPHIA METROPOLITAN AREA
AND OVER SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY. THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED
OVER DELAWARE COUNTY AND SOUTHEAST MONTGOMERY COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA.
IN NEW JERSEY...A HEAVY THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER SOUTHWESTERN BURLINGTON
AND WESTERN CAMDEN COUNTIES WITH A SECOND THUNDERSTORM OVER SALEM COUNTY.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH BUT THUNDERSTORMS
COULD DeEVELOP OVER MOST ANY AREA IN SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA AND SOUTHERN
NEW JERSEY THROUGH THIS EVENING.

HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE
THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
RNS
Special weather statement, Aug 5, 2:02 PM EDT, 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTIC CITY NJ
200 PM EDT WED AUG 5 1987

AT 130 PM EDT STRONG TO VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED
RAPIDLY OVER SOUTHWEST NEW JERSEY AND NORTHEAST NARYLAND. OTHER
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND ACROSS
EXTREME NORTHERN NEW JERSEY INTO SOUTHEAST NEW YORK STATE.
THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER SALEM AND BURLINGTON COUNTIES
OF SOUTHERN NEW JEvRSEY AND ALSO IN THE WASHINGTON DC AREA.
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR.
JGV

The office that day

Everything else NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 5, 3:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIAtlantic61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New Jersey, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.