Alert archive / Delaware / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

May 13, 2002New Castle County, Delaware

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this tornado warning at May 13, 2002, 4:27 PM EDT for New Castle County, Delaware. It was in force for 43 min. 2 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 13, 2002, 4:27 PM EDT (20:27 UTC)
Expired: May 13, 2002, 5:10 PM EDT
In force: 43 min
Issued by: NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area: Whole counties

County New Castle County, DE

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 13, 4:40 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52 E	Middletown, DE
May 13, 5:10 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52 E	Christiana, DE

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 13, 1:30 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 167 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: 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 132027
TORPHI
DEC003-132110-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN NEW CASTLE COUNTY IN NORTHERN DELAWARE

* UNTIL 510 PM EDT.

* AT 420 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 15 MILES WEST OF
  MIDDLETOWN...MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH. THIS STORM COULD PRODUCE A
  TORNADO AT ANY TIME. THIS STORM HAS HAD A HISTORY OF PRODUCING
  LARGE HAIL AND TORNADOES IN MARYLAND.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  MIDDLETOWN AT 435 PM.
  DELAWARE CITY AT 445 PM.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. PLEASE SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.

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

$$

TFG

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 12, 8:07 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PHI	Kent	38 min
May 12, 10:44 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PHI	Sussex	16 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Delaware, 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.