Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 31, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

June 4, 1996Chester County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 4, 1996, 6:57 PM EDT for Chester County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 48 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
Jun 4, 1996, 6:57 PM EDT (22:57 UTC)
Expired
Jun 4, 1996, 7:45 PM EDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Whole counties

County Chester County, PA

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:00 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
Jun 4, 7:15 PM EDTHail 1Honey Brook, 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, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 182 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 1996-06-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 117 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 1996-06-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 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
117 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-76 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
875 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
135 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 042300
SVRPHL
PAC029-042345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ
657 PM EDT TUE JUN 4 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...NORTHWESTERN CHESTER COUNTY
 
AT 655 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ
WAS INDICATING A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN EXTREME EASTERN LANCASTER
COUNTY MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH.  THIS STORM
WILL ENTER NORTHWESTERN CHESTER COUNTY JUST SOUTH OF HONEYBROOK BY
705 PM.
 
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.
 
JJM/TFG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 4, 5:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBerks60 min
Jun 4, 6:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHICarbon, Lehigh43 min
Jun 4, 6:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIMonroe, Northampton52 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.