Alert archive / New Jersey / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

January 19, 1996Mercer County, Middlesex County, Somerset County, New Jersey

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 19, 1996, 1:58 PM EST for Mercer County, Middlesex County, Somerset County, New Jersey. It was in force for 47 min. 3 reports 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
Jan 19, 1996, 1:58 PM EST (18:58 UTC)
Expired
Jan 19, 1996, 2:45 PM EST
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Whole counties

Counties Mercer County, NJ, Middlesex County, NJ, Somerset County, NJ

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 55 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:58 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
Jan 19, 2:10 PM ESTThunderstorm WindCountywide, NJ
Jan 19, 2:15 PM ESTThunderstorm WindCountywide, NJ
Jan 19, 2:15 PM ESTThunderstorm WindCountywide, 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Brookhaven, NY (KOKX), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 152 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 1996-01-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 1996-01-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 418 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
534 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
418 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
384 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 
WUUS1 KPHL 191858 RRA
SVRPHL
NJC021-023-035-191945-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ
158 PM EST FRI JAN 19 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN  NEW JERSEY
 
   ...MERCER COUNTY...MIDDLESEX COUNTY...SOMERSET COUNTY
 
A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHEASTWARD THROUGH
HUNTERDON COUNTY NEW JERSEY AND WILL MOVE INTO MERCER SOMERSET AND
MIDDLESEX COUNTIES SHORTLY. WINDS GUSTED TO 59 MILES AN HOUR AT THE
MOUNTY HOLLY NJ WEATHER OFFICE...AND TO 67 MPH IN NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA
ABOUT 140 PM...WHERE PEA SIZED HAIL OCCURRED...AND A WINDOW WAS BLOWN
OUT OF A BUILDING.
 
HEAVY RAINS WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM MAY CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL
STREAMS AND UNDERPASSES VERY QUICKLY.  DO NOT DRIVE YOUR CAR INTO
AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY.  THE WATER MAY BE DEEPER
THAN YOU THINK.  IF CAUGHT IN RISING WATERS...ABANDON YOUR CAR
QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
AC/JRP

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 19, 10:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHIHunterdon, Mercer, Morris, Somerset, Warren9 hr
Jan 19, 10:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHISussex9 hr
Jan 19, 10:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHIGloucester, Salem9 hr
Jan 19, 10:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHIBurlington, Camden9 hr
Jan 19, 10:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHIMiddlesex, Monmouth9 hr
Jan 19, 1:46 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBurlington, Monmouth, Ocean44 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New Jersey, 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.