Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

July 18, 1997Monroe County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this tornado warning at Jul 18, 1997, 6:29 PM EDT for Monroe County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 31 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, 6:29 PM EDT (22:29 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 1997, 7:00 PM EDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Whole counties

County Monroe County, PA

The radar

The Binghamton radar (KBGM), 138 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:28 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, 6:30 PM EDTThunderstorm WindEast Stroudsburg, 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, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 209 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 182229 RRA
TORPHL
PAC089-182300-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE
FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN  PENNSYLVANIA

   ...SOUTHERN MONROE COUNTY
 
A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS SPOTTED NEAR SNYDERSVILLE IN SOUTHERN
MONROE COUNTY MOVING EAST AROUND 35 MILES AN HOUR.

DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN THIS TORNADO WITH YOUR CAR OR OTHER VEHICLE.
ABANDON CARS OR MOBILE HOMES FOR SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...GET IN A CULVERT OR DITCH AND COVER
YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

IN A HOME OR BUSINESS...SEEK SHELTER IN A BASEMENT...OR AN INTERIOR
ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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

SP/

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 18, 5:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHICarbon49 min
Jul 18, 6:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHILehigh, Monroe, Northampton45 min
Jul 18, 6:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBerks45 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.