Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

June 27, 2002Berks County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this tornado warning at Jun 27, 2002, 6:05 PM EDT for Berks County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 55 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: Jun 27, 2002, 6:05 PM EDT (22:05 UTC)
Expired: Jun 27, 2002, 7:00 PM EDT
In force: 55 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 22:05 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
Jun 27, 6:05 PM EDT	Tornado F0	Stouchsburg, 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
Jun 27, 2:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 106 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 287 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -83 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1213 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 76 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 
WFUS51 KPHI 272205
TORPHI
PAC011-272300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
604 PM EDT THU JUN 27 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BERKS COUNTY IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 700 PM EDT.

* AT 600 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  STRAUSSTOWN...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. THIS STORM COULD PRODUCE A
  TORNADO AT ANY TIME.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  BERNVILLE AT 615 PM.
  WERNERSVILLE AT 620 PM.
  LEESPORT...HAMBURG AT 625 PM.
  READING AT 630 PM.
  LENHARTSVILLE AT 635 PM.
  FLEETWOOD AT 640 PM.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A
TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE
IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

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

$$

LAT...LON 4049 7635 4037 7620 4023 7597 4044 7560
          4061 7589

KRUZDLO

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 27, 4:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PHI	Lehigh, Northampton	25 min
Jun 27, 4:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PHI	Bucks, Northampton	37 min
Jun 27, 5:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PHI	Berks	39 min
Jun 27, 6:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PHI	Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton	60 min
Jun 27, 6:55 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	PHI	Berks	3 hr
Jun 27, 7:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PHI	Berks, Bucks, Chester, Montgomery	47 min
Jun 27, 7:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PHI	Bucks, Philadelphia	31 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes 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.