Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Watches in 2026
Tornado Watch 68
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 16, 2026, 11:30 AM EDT for 16 counties in New Jersey; 26 counties in Pennsylvania. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 16, 2026, 11:30 AM EDT (15:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 16, 2026, 5:59 PM EDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 70 kt
All 42 counties
Atlantic County, NJ, Burlington County, NJ, Camden County, NJ, Cape May County, NJ, Cumberland County, NJ, Gloucester County, NJ, Hunterdon County, NJ, Mercer County, NJ, Middlesex County, NJ, Monmouth County, NJ, Morris County, NJ, Ocean County, NJ, Salem County, NJ, Somerset County, NJ, Sussex County, NJ, Warren County, NJ, Adams County, PA, Berks County, PA, Bucks County, PA, Carbon County, PA, Chester County, PA, Columbia County, PA, Cumberland County, PA, Dauphin County, PA, Delaware County, PA, Franklin County, PA, Juniata County, PA, Lancaster County, PA, Lebanon County, PA, Lehigh County, PA, Mifflin County, PA, Monroe County, PA, Montgomery County, PA, Montour County, PA, Northampton County, PA, Northumberland County, PA, Perry County, PA, Philadelphia County, PA, Schuylkill County, PA, Snyder County, PA, Union County, PA, York County, PA
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 140 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:31 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
- 60%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 30%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 80%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 70%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 20%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 10%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 95%
Warnings issued inside it
4 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 16, 11:55 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Adams, York | 35 min |
| Mar 16, 12:26 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Perry, York | 34 min |
| Mar 16, 1:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PHI | Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton | 45 min |
| Mar 16, 2:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Lancaster, York | 53 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
Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 3.5 hours before the alert went out and 222 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 131 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -49 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 644 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 53 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 270 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 312 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 16, 3:14 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and 8 more | 91 min |
| Mar 16, 10:57 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Berks, Bradford, Carbon, Centre, Chester and 25 more | 93 min |
| Mar 16, 6:13 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler and 21 more | 4 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Pennsylvania, 2026Tornado Watches in New Jersey, 2026Every tornado watch in 2026
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.