Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 118, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

August 16, 1997Bucks County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 16, 1997, 11:25 PM EDT for Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 35 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 1997, 11:25 PM EDT (03:25 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 1997, 12:00 AM EDT
In force
35 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 03:24 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Brookhaven, NY (KOKX), launched 00:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 198 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 00:00Z on 1997-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 218 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, Brookhaven, NY at 00:00Z on 1997-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -25 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
218 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-239 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1428 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-78 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

638 
WUUS1 KPHL 170324 RRA
SVRPHL
PAC017-170400-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ
1125 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1200 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE
IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN  PENNSYLVANIA

   ...BUCKS COUNTY

AT 1120 PM...DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM SOUTH OF
QUAKERTOWN MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. THE STORM MAY CONTAIN LARGE
HAIL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND
LIGHTNING STRIKES. 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING AND DO NOT
STAND NEAR WINDOWS. FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON
THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.

FOR THE LATEST STORM INFORMATION...PLEASE TUNE TO NOAA WEATHER
RADIO...YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION STATIONS...OR YOUR CABLE
TELEVISION OUTLET.


JAE/NC

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 10:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIDelaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia42 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.