Alert archive / New Jersey / Tornado Watches in 2020

Tornado Watch 416

August 4, 20204 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Aug 4, 2020, 7:23 AM EDT for 4 states. It was in force for 9 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 4, 2020, 7:23 AM EDT (11:23 UTC)
Expired
Aug 4, 2020, 4:00 PM EDT
In force
9 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
0.5 in
Strongest gust expected
50 kt
All 38 counties

Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, CT, Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, CT, Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, CT, Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT, Atlantic County, NJ, Bergen County, NJ, Burlington County, NJ, Camden County, NJ, Essex County, NJ, Gloucester County, NJ, Hudson County, NJ, Hunterdon County, NJ, Mercer County, NJ, Middlesex County, NJ, Monmouth County, NJ, Morris County, NJ, Ocean County, NJ, Passaic County, NJ, Somerset County, NJ, Sussex County, NJ, Union County, NJ, Warren County, NJ, Bronx County, NY, Kings County, NY, Nassau County, NY, New York County, NY, Orange County, NY, Putnam County, NY, Queens County, NY, Richmond County, NY, Rockland County, NY, Suffolk County, NY, Westchester County, NY, Bucks County, PA, Chester County, PA, Delaware County, PA, Montgomery County, PA, Philadelphia County, PA

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:26 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 SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
70%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
10%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
5%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
20%

Warnings issued inside it

16 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 4, 7:23 AM EDTTornado WarningPHIChester, Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia20 min
Aug 4, 7:28 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIGloucester, Salem3 hr
Aug 4, 8:11 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIBucks, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton4 hr
Aug 4, 8:19 AM EDTTornado WarningPHIBucks26 min
Aug 4, 9:23 AM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedPHIChester22 min
Aug 4, 9:42 AM EDTTornado WarningPHIAtlantic, Cape May19 min
Aug 4, 10:02 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIGloucester, Salem4 hr
Aug 4, 10:15 AM EDTTornado WarningPHIAtlantic, Burlington, Ocean14 min
Aug 4, 10:20 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIBurlington, Camden, Gloucester4 hr
Aug 4, 10:51 AM EDTTornado WarningPHIMontgomery24 min
Aug 4, 11:00 AM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedPHIMonmouth, Ocean11 min
Aug 4, 11:01 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIBurlington, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and 1 more4 hr
Aug 4, 11:43 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIWarren4 hr
Aug 4, 1:38 PM EDTTornado WarningOKXGreater Bridgeport Planning Region37 min
Aug 4, 2:05 PM EDTTornado WarningOKXLower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region25 min
Aug 4, 2:49 PM EDTTornado WarningOKXLower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region15 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Brookhaven, NY (KOKX), launched 00:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 147 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, Brookhaven, NY at 00:00Z on 2020-08-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 560 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, Brookhaven, NY at 00:00Z on 2020-08-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 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
560 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-65 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1172 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 4, 6:45 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPC3 hr
Aug 4, 11:13 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPC92 min
Aug 4, 11:34 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPC86 min
Aug 4, 12:43 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCCapitol Planning Region, Northwest Hills Planning Region, Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region6 hr
Aug 4, 3:05 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPC85 min
Aug 4, 2:26 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCCape May, Cumberland, Salem9 hr
Aug 4, 5:15 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and 1 more3 hr
Aug 4, 8:59 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and 5 more91 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in New Jersey, 2020Tornado Watches in New York, 2020Tornado Watches in Pennsylvania, 2020Every tornado watch in 2020

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.