Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 24, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

May 21, 1996Bucks County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 21, 1996, 4:20 PM EDT for Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 30 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 21, 1996, 4:20 PM EDT (20:20 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1996, 4:50 PM EDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Whole counties

County Bucks County, PA

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:21 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 21, 4:25 PM EDTThunderstorm WindNortheast, 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 250 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 1996-05-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 637 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 1996-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -39 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
637 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-174 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1462 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-23 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 212034 COR
SVRPHL
PAC017-212050-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED...CORRECTION
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ
420 PM EDT TUE MAY 21 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 450 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN  PENNSYLVANIA

   ...BUCKS COUNTY

AT 420 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER BUCKS COUNTY EAST
OF QUAKERTOWN. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AROUND 40 MILES AN HOUR
AND WILL HEAD TOWARD HUNTERDON COUNTY NEW JERSEY.

LARGE HAIL IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 58 MILES PER HOUR...
LARGE HAIL...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.  IF THREATENING WEATHER SUDDENLY
APPROACHES YOU...BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.  IF
POSSIBLE...MOVE INDOORS AND GO TO THE GROUND FLOOR OR BASEMENT OF
THE BUILDING.  STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

$$

SP

CHORRECTION TO CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT

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.