Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 41, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

June 12, 1996Bucks County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 12, 1996, 4:25 PM EDT for Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 45 min. 2 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
Jun 12, 1996, 4:25 PM EDT (20:25 UTC)
Expired
Jun 12, 1996, 5:10 PM EDT
In force
45 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 20:25 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 12, 5:00 PM EDTThunderstorm WindCentral And Southern, PA
Jun 12, 5:18 PM EDTHail 1.75New Hope, 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

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 128 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 1996-06-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 801 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 1996-06-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 60 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
801 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
635 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
60 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KPHL 122022
SVRPHL
PAC017-122110-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ
425 PM EDT WED JUN 12 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS
ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 510 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN  PENNSYLVANIA

   ...BUCKS COUNTY
 
AT 422 PM EDT...A DEVELOPING SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY NWS
DOPPLER RADAR IN THE VICINITY OF WARMINSTER MOVING NORTHEAST AT
30 MPH.

THIS STORM MAY AFFECT THE FOLLOWING NEARBY AREAS... WARMINSTER...
IVYLAND... CHURCHVILLE... WARRINGTON... WRIGHTSTOWN... NEWTOWN...
YARDLEY... NEW HOPE AND  WASHINGTON CROSSING.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE AREA.

THUNDERSTORMS TODAY HAVE HAD A HISTORY OF PRODUCING TORRENTIAL
DOWNPOURS AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING.  ONE PERSON WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING
EARLIER TODAY.

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/GIGI

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 12, 2:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIMontgomery33 min
Jun 12, 3:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBucks49 min
Jun 12, 5:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBucks34 min
Jun 12, 6:28 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIBucks, Montgomery2 hr

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.