Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 129, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

December 17, 2000Chester County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 17, 2000, 6:13 AM 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 outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Dec 17, 2000, 6:13 AM EST (11:13 UTC)
Expired
Dec 17, 2000, 6:45 AM EST
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Chester County, PA

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:14 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
Dec 17, 6:15 AM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50 ECountywide, 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
Dec 17, 2:15 AM ESTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 171 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 2000-12-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 2000-12-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 329 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
393 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
329 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
348 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WUUS51 KPHI 171113
SVRPHL
PAC029-171145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
613 AM EST SUN DEC 17 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  CHESTER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA.

* UNTIL 645 AM EST.

* AT 604 AM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM... OVER OXFORD...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 75 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  DOWNINGTOWN...WEST CHESTER AT 620 AM.
  LIONVILLE...PAOLI AT 625 AM.

DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH ARE EXPECTED FROM THIS STORM. SEEK
SHELTER IN A STURDY STRUCTURE UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY RAINFALL...WHICH MAY FLOOD
LOW LYING AREAS SUCH AS DITCHES AND UNDERPASSES. AVOID THESE AREAS
AND DO NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADS AS THEY MAY BE WASHED OUT.

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

LAT...LON 3980 7612 3975 7589 4006 7544 4021 7575

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 17, 6:06 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHIChester114 min
Dec 17, 6:50 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHIBucks, Montgomery3 hr
Dec 17, 7:03 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHIChester3 hr
Dec 17, 7:29 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHIDelaware3 hr
Dec 17, 9:33 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHIChester117 min
Dec 17, 9:52 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHICarbon, Monroe3 hr
Dec 17, 10:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHIChester3 hr
Dec 17, 10:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHIDelaware3 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2000Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2000

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.