Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

May 13, 2002Berks County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this tornado warning at May 13, 2002, 3:08 PM EDT for Berks County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 37 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
May 13, 2002, 3:08 PM EDT (19:08 UTC)
Expired
May 13, 2002, 3:45 PM EDT
In force
37 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 19:10 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
May 13, 3:20 PM EDTHail 0.75Boyertown, 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 12:00Z, 7.1 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 12:00Z on 2002-05-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 313 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 2002-05-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 117 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
313 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-110 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1186 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
117 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
127 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS51 KPHI 131908
TORPHI
PAC011-131945-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
308 PM EDT MON MAY 13 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 345 PM EDT.

* AT 305 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION OVER BIRDSBORO...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THIS STORM COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY
  TIME.

HEAD FOR SHELTER NOW. DO NOT DRIVE. REMAIN INDOORS.
 
FOR THE LATEST STORM INFORMATION...PLEASE TUNE TO NOAA WEATHER
RADIO...YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION STATION...OR YOUR CABLE
TELEVISION OUTLET.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM MONDAY EVENING FOR
SOUTHWESTERN DELAWARE AND NORTHEASTERN MARYLAND AND SOUTHERN NEW
JERSEY AND SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA.

$$

LAT...LON 4026 7597 4016 7584 4044 7560 4054 7565

TFG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 13, 2:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBerks42 min
May 13, 2:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIMontgomery34 min
May 13, 3:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBerks28 min
May 13, 3:08 PM EDTTornado WarningPHIBerks112 min
May 13, 3:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIMontgomery24 min
May 13, 3:25 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIBerks95 min
May 13, 4:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIChester65 min
May 13, 4:57 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIBerks2 hr
May 13, 5:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIMontgomery42 min
May 13, 5:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBucks39 min

Nearby

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