Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2012

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 97, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

July 18, 2012Berks County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 18, 2012, 2:12 PM EDT for Berks County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 48 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: Jul 18, 2012, 2:12 PM EDT (18:12 UTC)
Expired: Jul 18, 2012, 3:00 PM EDT
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area: Storm-based polygon

County Berks County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 155 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:13 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jul 18, 12:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	8 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 113 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: 884 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -169 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1666 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 10 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.

794 
WUUS51 KPHI 181812
SVRPHI
PAC011-181900-
/O.NEW.KPHI.SV.W.0097.120718T1812Z-120718T1900Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
212 PM EDT WED JUL 18 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  WEST CENTRAL BERKS COUNTY IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA...

* UNTIL 300 PM EDT

* AT 208 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING QUARTER SIZE HAIL...AND
  DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.  THIS STORM WAS LOCATED 12
  MILES WEST OF STRAUSSTOWN...OR 27 MILES WEST OF READING...AND
  MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
  WOMELSDORF...BERNVILLE...SHOEMAKERSVILLE...LEESPORT AND HAMBURG

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH...PREPARE
IMMEDIATELY FOR DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...AND DEADLY CLOUD TO
GROUND LIGHTNING. PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...FREQUENT CLOUD TO
GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. MOVE INDOORS
IMMEDIATELY! REMEMBER...IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE
ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.

IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...HEAVY RAIN WILL OCCUR
WITH THESE STORMS AND CAUSE LOW-LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE FLOODING.

PLEASE REPORT HAIL OR STRONG WINDS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY
CALLING TOLL FREE...1-877-633-6772...WHEN YOU CAN DO SO SAFELY.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT
WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR NORTHERN DELAWARE AND NORTHEASTERN MARYLAND AND
NEW JERSEY AND EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA.

&&

LAT...LON 4052 7635 4052 7628 4053 7622 4056 7596
      4032 7597 4036 7624 4046 7639 4049 7643
      4050 7643
TIME...MOT...LOC 1812Z 271DEG 16KT 4045 7639

$$

DRAG

1 follow-up statement

070 
WWUS51 KPHI 181833
SVSPHI

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
233 PM EDT WED JUL 18 2012

PAC011-181900-
/O.CON.KPHI.SV.W.0097.000000T0000Z-120718T1900Z/
BERKS PA-
233 PM EDT WED JUL 18 2012

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 300 PM EDT
FOR WEST CENTRAL BERKS COUNTY...

AT 227 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO
INDICATE A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING QUARTER SIZE 
HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND TORRENTIAL POOR 
DRAINAGE FLOODING RAIN.  THIS STORM WAS LOCATED 9 MILES WEST OF 
STRAUSSTOWN...OR 24 MILES WEST OF READING...MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.

OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
WOMELSDORF

THE STORM IS VERY SLOW MOVING AND PULSING STRONGER AND WEAKER IN ITS 
EASTWARD MOVEMENT. 

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...CONTINUOUS CLOUD TO
GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. MOVE INDOORS
IMMEDIATELY! REMEMBER...IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE
ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.

PLEASE REPORT HAIL OR STRONG WINDS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY
CALLING TOLL FREE...1-877-633-6772...WHEN YOU CAN DO SO SAFELY.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT
WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR NORTHERN DELAWARE AND NORTHEASTERN MARYLAND AND
NEW JERSEY AND EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA.

&&

LAT...LON 4052 7635 4052 7628 4053 7622 4052 7611
      4037 7614 4036 7624 4046 7639 4049 7643
      4050 7643
TIME...MOT...LOC 1832Z 266DEG 10KT 4046 7634

$$

DRAG

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 18, 1:27 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	PHI	Monroe	33 min
Jul 18, 1:53 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	PHI	Bucks	37 min
Jul 18, 2:07 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	PHI	Berks	38 min
Jul 18, 2:15 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	PHI	Monroe	60 min
Jul 18, 2:23 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	PHI	Northampton	67 min
Jul 18, 2:43 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	PHI	Berks, Lehigh	47 min
Jul 18, 3:04 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	PHI	Berks, Lehigh, Northampton	41 min
Jul 18, 3:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PHI	Berks, Bucks, Lehigh, Northampton	47 min
Jul 18, 3:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PHI	Northampton	49 min
Jul 18, 3:36 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	PHI	Berks	54 min
Jul 18, 3:43 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	PHI	Carbon	47 min
Jul 18, 3:51 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PHI	Berks, Chester, Montgomery	28 min
Jul 18, 3:52 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	PHI	Monroe, Northampton	113 min
Jul 18, 4:22 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	PHI	Bucks	23 min
Jul 18, 4:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PHI	Bucks	32 min
Jul 18, 5:30 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	PHI	Bucks	60 min
Jul 18, 5:51 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	PHI	Philadelphia	54 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2012 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2012

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.