Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

May 1, 1997Carbon County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 1, 1997, 4:38 PM EDT for Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 52 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
May 1, 1997, 4:38 PM EDT (20:38 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 1997, 5:30 PM EDT
In force
52 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 20:42 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 1, 4:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 164 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 1997-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 1997-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 164 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
833 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
164 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
178 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 012038 RRA
SVRPHL
PAC011-025-077-012130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ
438 PM EDT THU MAY 1 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS
ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN  PENNSYLVANIA

   ...CARBON COUNTY
   ...NORTHERN BERKS COUNTY
   ...NORTHERN LEHIGH COUNTY
 
AT 430 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN EASTERN SCHUYLKILL COUNTY HEADING NORTHEAST AT
35 MPH.  THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL BE ENTERING NORTHERN BERKS
...NORTHERN LEHIGH...AND WESTERN CARBON COUNTIES BY 440 PM.  TOWNS IN
THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE LEHIGHTON IN CARBON COUNTY... AND
LYNNPORT IN LEHIGH COUNTY.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE AREA.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...SEEK SHELTER NOW.  AFTER THE
STORM HAS PASSED...REPORT ANY SEVERE WEATHER OR FLOODING TO 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.

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.

JONES/MIKETTA/SZATKOWSKI

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 4:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBerks, Lehigh52 min
May 1, 5:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBucks, Montgomery28 min
May 1, 6:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIDelaware, Philadelphia46 min
May 1, 6:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIMontgomery32 min
May 1, 6:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBucks40 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.