Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

May 24, 2004Bucks County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this tornado warning at May 24, 2004, 6:04 PM EDT for Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 26 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 24, 2004, 6:04 PM EDT (22:04 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 2004, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Bucks County, PA

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:04 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 24, 4:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 130 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 2004-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 15 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°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 2004-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 42 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
15 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-87 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1572 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
119 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.

297 
WFUS51 KPHI 242204
TORPHI
PAC017-242230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
604 PM EDT MON MAY 24 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL BUCKS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 630 PM EDT

* AT 559 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR DUBLIN...OR
  ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BETHLEHEM...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  NEWTOWN GRANT BY 615 PM EDT

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT MONDAY
EVENING FOR NORTHWESTERN NEW JERSEY AND EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA.

LAT...LON 4048 7522 4038 7536 4023 7495 4032 7492

$$

RPW

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 3:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBerks, Lehigh47 min
May 24, 4:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHILehigh, Northampton44 min
May 24, 5:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBucks52 min
May 24, 5:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBerks, Bucks, Lehigh, Montgomery53 min
May 24, 6:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBucks63 min
May 24, 7:41 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningPHI64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2004Every tornado warning in 2004Tornadoes in 2004

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.