Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

April 1, 1998Chester County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 1, 1998, 2:23 PM EST for Chester County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 32 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
Apr 1, 1998, 2:23 PM EST (19:23 UTC)
Expired
Apr 1, 1998, 2:55 PM EST
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Whole counties

County Chester County, PA

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:27 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
Apr 1, 2:37 PM ESTTornado F1Cedarville, 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, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 64 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 1998-04-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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 1998-04-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 179 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1059 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
141 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 011923 RRA
SVRPHL
PAC029-011955-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
223 PM EST WED APR 1 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 255 PM EST FOR PEOPLE
IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN PENNSYLVANIA

   ...NORTHERN CHESTER COUNTY

AT 220 PM EST... RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN THE VICINITY
OF HONEY BROOK MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

THIS STORM MAY AFFECT THE FOLLOWING NEARBY AREAS...
KIMBERTON...  DEVAULT... SPRING CITY...  PHOENIXVILLE AND VALLEY
FORGE.

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 TOt HIGHER GROUND.

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

MPD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 1, 3:38 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHIChester3 hr
Apr 1, 6:20 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHIChester, Montgomery3 hr
Apr 1, 6:46 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBucks34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

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.