Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 17, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

May 11, 1996Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 11, 1996, 3:53 PM EDT for Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 47 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
May 11, 1996, 3:53 PM EDT (19:53 UTC)
Expired
May 11, 1996, 4:40 PM EDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Whole counties

County Lehigh County, PA

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:04 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 11, 4:10 PM EDTThunderstorm WindSoutheast Half, PA

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.

The nearest sounding before it

Brookhaven, NY (KOKX), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 231 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, Brookhaven, NY at 12:00Z on 1996-05-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Brookhaven, NY at 12:00Z on 1996-05-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 68 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1413 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
68 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
110 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 111952
SVRPHL
PAC077-112040-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ
353 PM EDT SAT MAY 11 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS
ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 440 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN  PENNSYLVANIA

   ...LEHIGH COUNTY
 
AT 350 PM...RADAR AND WEATHER SPOTTERS INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO LEHIGH COUNTY.  THEY WERE MOVING
EAST-NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.  THESE STORMS HAD A HISTORY OF MARBLE SIZED
HAIL AND FUNNEL CLOUDS.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE AREA. REMEMBER...SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH OR NO
ADVANCED WARNING.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...THE VOICE OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE...OR TO COMMERCIAL RADIO OR TELEVISION STATIONS FOR THE
LATEST STORM INFORMATION.

IF YOU SEE SEVERE WEATHER OR FLOODING...CONTACT YOUR LOCAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND HAVE THEM RELAY YOUR SEVERE WEATHER REPORT ON
TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAIN WINDS GREATER THAN 58 MILES AN HOUR...
DIME SIZE HAIL OR LARGER...VERY HEAVY RAINS AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.
 

FRANKLIN
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 11, 3:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBerks34 min
May 11, 4:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIMonroe50 min
May 11, 5:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBucks50 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.