Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 138, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

August 27, 2003Berks County, Chester County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 27, 2003, 12:17 PM EDT for Berks County, Chester County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 43 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 27, 2003, 12:17 PM EDT (16:17 UTC)
Expired
Aug 27, 2003, 1:00 PM EDT
In force
43 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 16:21 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 84 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2003-08-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 217 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2003-08-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 18 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
217 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-214 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1330 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS51 KPHI 271617
SVRPHI
PAC011-029-271700-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
1215 PM EDT WED AUG 27 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN BERKS COUNTY 
  NORTHERN CHESTER COUNTY 

* UNTIL 100 PM EDT.

* AT 1211 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM... 11 MILES NORTHWEST OF HONEY
  BROOK...MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH. THIS STORM IS SHOWING SIGNS OF 
  INTENSIFYING AND BECOMING SEVERE.  

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  READING AT 1220 PM.
  HONEY BROOK AT 1225 PM.
  ELVERSON...BIRDSBORO AT 1230 PM.

DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH ARE EXPECTED FROM THIS STORM 
ALONG WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF SOME LARGE HAIL. SEEK SHELTER IN A 
STURDY STRUCTURE UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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

$$

LAT...LON 4030 7613 4012 7615 4003 7569 4042 7568

TFG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 27, 12:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIMontgomery, Philadelphia42 min
Aug 27, 1:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBucks40 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2003Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2003

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.