Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 31, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 12, 2002, 5:42 PM EDT for Berks County, Chester County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 33 min. 3 reports 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
- May 12, 2002, 5:42 PM EDT (21:42 UTC)
- Expired
- May 12, 2002, 6:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Berks County, PA, Chester County, PA
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:43 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 12, 5:55 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 56 E | Spring City, PA | |
| May 12, 6:10 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 E | Ludwigs Corner, PA | |
| May 12, 6:15 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 M | West Chester, 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 12, 3:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
| May 12, 5:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 193 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1104 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 150 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 143 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WUUS51 KPHI 122142 CCA
SVRPHI
PAC011-029-122215-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING - CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
539 PM EDT SUN MAY 12 2002
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A
* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
NORTHERN CHESTER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA.
* UNTIL 615 PM EDT.
* AT 538 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM... 3 MILES NORTHWEST OF ELVERSON...MOVING EAST
AT 45 MPH.
* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
LIONVILLE AT 555 PM.
PHOENIXVILLE AT 600 PM.
PAOLI AT 605 PM.
FOR THE LATEST STORM INFORMATION...PLEASE TUNE TO NOAA WEATHER
RADIO...YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION STATION...OR YOUR CABLE
TELEVISION OUTLET.
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM SUNDAY
EVENING FOR THE AREA.
THESE STORMS HAVE HAD A HISTORY OF PRODUCING STRONG WINDS WHILE
MOVING THROUGH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA.
$$
LAT...LON 4026 7573 4010 7595 3996 7554 4008 7541
4020 7559
JWH
...CORRECTION TO REMOVE BERKS COUNTY FROM THE WARNING...The office that day
Everything else NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 12, 5:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PHI | Berks | 30 min |
| May 12, 5:40 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PHI | Berks, Chester | 35 min |
| May 12, 6:19 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PHI | Chester, Delaware, Philadelphia | 26 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2002Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2002
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.