Alert archive / Maryland / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 25, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

May 21, 1996Queen Anne's County, Maryland

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 21, 1996, 6:46 PM EDT for Queen Anne's County, Maryland. It was in force for 44 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, 6:46 PM EDT (22:46 UTC)
Expired: May 21, 1996, 7:30 PM EDT
In force: 44 min
Issued by: NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area: Whole counties

County Queen Anne's County, MD

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 21, 7:00 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Wye Mills, MD

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, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 114 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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 212247
SVRPHL
MDC035-212330-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ
646 PM EDT TUE MAY 21 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  MARYLAND
 
   ...QUEEN ANNES COUNTY
 
AT 640 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
OVER CHESAPEAKE BAY EAST OF ANNAPOLIS MARYLAND. THIS STORM WAS
MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AROUND 30 MPH AND WILL MOVE INTO QUEEN
ANNES COUNTY BY 7 PM.  THIS THUNDERSTORM MAY HAVE STRONG DAMAGING
WINDS...BRIEFLY HEAVY RAIN...AND HAIL.  FREQUENT LIGHTNING IS LIKELY.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  PREPARE FOR STRONG DAMAGING WINDS...
LARGE HAIL...HEAVY RAINS AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.  SHOULD THE STORM
APPROACH MOVE INSIDE QUICKLY. DO NOT STAND NEAR WINDOWS.  MOBILE
HOMES ARE MOST VULNERABLE TO HIGH WINDS AND SHOULD BE AVOIDED.

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, May 21, 1:24 PM EDT, 5 hours 22 minutes before

PAZ054-055-060>062-067>071-NJZ001-007>010-012>020-014-026-DEZ001-
MDZ008-220000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ
125 PM EDT TUE MAY 21 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR NORTHERN DELAWARE...EXTREME NORTHEAST
MARYLAND...NEW JERSEY /EXCEPT THE NORTHEAST AND EXTREME SOUTH/...AND EASTERN
PENNSYLVANIA FROM THE POCONOS SOUTH...IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM EDT...

A COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH PENNSYLVANIA WILL CAUSE THUNDERSTORMS
WITH AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT. THE COLD FRONT WILL CROSS THE REGION
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL GENERALLY MOVE FROM WEST TO EAST AT 40 MPH.
ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT FORM COULD BECOME SEVERE AND HAVE DAMAGING
WINDS...HAIL AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS.

IF THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP...SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT DRIVE
THROUGH FLOODED AREAS THE WATER MAY BE DEEPER THAN YOU THINK.

RNS

Local storm report, May 21, 6:01 PM EDT, 45 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA, PA
601 PM EDT TUE MAY 21 1996

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0400 PM                              NJ   WIND DAMAGE
05/21/96   MONTGOMERY                PA   TREES DOWN...MINOR DAMAGE
                                          TO HOUSES IN LOWER
                                          PROVIDENCE TWP. TIME
                                          ESTIMATED.

0415 PM                              PA   WIND DAMAGE
05/21/96   BUCKS                          TREES DOWN IN UPPER PART
                                          OF COUNTY.

0445 PM    PRINCETON                 NJ   WIND DAMAGE
05/21/96   MERCER                         PART OF A TREE DOWN ON A
                                          CAR. TIME ESTIMATED.
0448 PM                              NJ   WIND DAMAGE
05/21/96   MORRIS                         TREES DOWNf IN JEFFERSON
                                          TWP AND NEAR HOPTACONG.

0450 PM    BLAWENBURG                NJ   WIND DAMAGE
05/21/96   SOMERSET                       TREE DOWN.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 21, 7:16 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PHI	Caroline, Talbot	44 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Maryland, 1996 Every 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.