Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 77, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

July 18, 1997Carbon County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 18, 1997, 5:41 PM EDT for Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 49 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
Jul 18, 1997, 5:41 PM EDT (21:41 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 1997, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Whole counties

County Carbon County, PA

The radar

The Binghamton radar (KBGM), 144 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:42 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
Jul 18, 6:00 PM EDTThunderstorm WindTrachsville, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 18, 4:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Brookhaven, NY (KOKX), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 239 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 1997-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 537 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, Brookhaven, NY at 12:00Z on 1997-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 3 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
537 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-119 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1397 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
44 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 182142 RRA
SVRPHL
PAC025-182230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ
541 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN
THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN  PENNSYLVANIA

   ...CARBON COUNTY
 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A VERY DANGEROUS THUNDERSTORM
MOVING TOWARD CARBON COUNTY FROM LUZERNE COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS
MOVING EAST AROUND 30 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL ENTER CARBON COUNTY
BETWEEN 550 AND 600 PM NEAR BEAVER MEADOWS AND WEATHERLY.

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.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR CAR WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER MAY
BE DEEPER THAN YOU THINK. IF CAUGHT IN RISING FLOOD WATERS...ABANDON
YOUR CAR QUICKLY AND MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

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

SP/

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 18, 6:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHILehigh, Monroe, Northampton45 min
Jul 18, 6:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBerks45 min
Jul 18, 6:29 PM EDTTornado WarningPHIMonroe31 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.