Alert archive / Delaware / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

May 18, 1995Sussex County, Delaware

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1995, 3:43 PM EDT for Sussex County, Delaware. It was in force for 62 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1995, 3:43 PM EDT (19:43 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1995, 4:45 PM EDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Whole counties

County Sussex County, DE

The nearest sounding before it

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 84 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 1995-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 873 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 1995-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 115 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
873 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-86 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1020 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
173 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
3.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPHL 181944
TORPHL
DEC005-182045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ
343 PM EDT THU MAY 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  DELAWARE
 
   ...SUSSEX COUNTY
 
AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
 
AT 341 PM RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER TALBOT COUNTY MARYLAND
MOVING EAST 40 MPH. THIS WAS PART OF A FAST MOVING LINE OF STORMS THAT
WILL REACH THE WESTERN PART OF SUSSEX COUNTY DELAWWARE BEFORE 4 PM.
 
IT APPEARS THE WORST PART OF THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEARING
SEAFORD ON HIGHWAY 13 IN DELAWARE. THIS STORM HAS HAD A HISTORY OF
PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL...AND A TORNADO IN TALBOT COUNTY
MARYLAND.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS
TORNADO...MOVE TO A BELOW GROUND SHELTER IF AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE
GO TO A$ SMALL CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.
ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING.
 
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EDT.
 
EBERWINE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 3:57 PM EDTTornado WarningPHIKent63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Delaware, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes in 1995

Sources

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