Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1986

Flash Flood Warning 5, NWS Cleveland, OH

July 18, 1986McKean County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this flash flood warning at Jul 18, 1986, 9:46 PM EDT for McKean County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 18, 1986, 9:46 PM EDT (01:46 UTC)
Expired
Jul 19, 1986, 12:00 AM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

County McKean County, PA

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 125 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 00:00Z on 1986-07-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 698 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 00:00Z on 1986-07-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 113 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
698 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-106 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1256 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
155 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
3.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KERI 190146
FFWERI
PAC083-190400-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE PA
946 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1200 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...MCKEAN

AT 930 PM EDT ERIE WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF VERY
HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO NORTHERN MCKEAN COUNTY IN
NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA..THESE HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
MOVING OVER AREAS WHICH RECIEVED FROM 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN
LAST NIGHT..AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAINFALL WILL
CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS..CREEKS AND LOW LYING
AREAS.

 THIS STORM IS ACCOMPANIED BY INTENSE LIGHTNING AND STRONG GUSTY
 WINDS.

 A FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING IS IMMENENT..IF FLOODING IS
 OBSERVED MOVE TO HIGH GROUND IMMEDIATLY.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Cleveland, OH issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 18, 10:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEMcKean, Warren86 min
Jul 18, 11:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECrawford, Erie76 min
Jul 19, 12:02 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEWarren58 min
Jul 19, 1:12 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLEWarren3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1986Every flash flood warning in 1986

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.