Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

March 9, 1998Berks County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this tornado warning at Mar 9, 1998, 7:26 PM EST for Berks County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 34 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
Mar 9, 1998, 7:26 PM EST (00:26 UTC)
Expired
Mar 9, 1998, 8:00 PM EST
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Whole counties

County Berks County, PA

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 139 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:29 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
Mar 9, 7:33 PM ESTTornado F1Blandon, 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 206 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 1998-03-10Temperature 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°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 1998-03-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 35 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1805 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
120 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.

644 
WFUS1 KPHL 100027 RRA
TORPHL
PAC011-100100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
726 PM EST MON MAR 9 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE
FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN PENNSYLVANIA

   ...BERKS COUNTY

AT 724 PM EST... RADAR SHOWED A TORNADO IN THE VICINITY OF
LAURELDALE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

THIS TORNADO MAY AFFECT THE FOLLOWING NEARBY AREAS...
CENTERPORT...  LEESPORT...  TEMPLE...  SHOEMAKERSVILLE...  OLEY...
HAMBURG...  FLEETWOOD...  LENHARTSVILLE...  LYONS...  KUTZTOWN...
ALBANY AND  TOPTON.

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
TELEVISION OUTLET.

GS/JF/JM

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.