Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1986

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

October 3, 1986Butler County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at Oct 3, 1986, 9:06 PM EDT for Butler County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 3, 1986, 9:06 PM EDT (01:06 UTC)
Expired
Oct 4, 1986, 1:00 AM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Butler 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 58 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 1986-10-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 629 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 1986-10-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 365 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
629 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
811 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
365 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
525 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.9
Supercell composite
11.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPIT 040112
FFWPIT
PAC019-033-040500-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
906 PM EDT FRI OCT 3 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 100 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA...BUTLER AND CLEARFIELD

AT 855PM PITTSBURGH WEATHER RADAR INDICATED HEAVY RAINS ACROSS
BUTLER COUNTY. ALSO HEAVY RAIN WAS MOVING BACK INTO CLEARFIELD
COUNTY.
FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED ALONG ROUTE 68 IN BUTLER COUNTY AS OF
850PM

 A FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IN THE EVENT OF RISING WATER. DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 3, 8:24 PM EDT, 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
820 PM EDT SAT OCT 03 1986

...HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA...

AT 815PM PITTSBURGH WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LARGE AREA OF MODERATE TO
HEAVY RAIN ABOUT 25 MILES WIDE WITH THUNDERSTORMS STRECHING FROM
JEFFERSON COUNTY WESTWARD ACROSS CLARION..NORTHERN ARMSTRONG..BUTLER
SOUTHERN MERCER AND LAWRENCE COUNTIES.
A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THESE COUNTIES TIL 10PM.
THESE STORMS WILL CONTAIN HEAVY DOWNPOURS THAT COULD CAUSE FLOODING OF
STREAMS AND CREEKS..POWER OUTAGES..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS.

THE LEADING EDGE OF THE HEAVY RAIN WILL MOVE INTO CLEARFIELD COUNTY
AROUND 830PM AMD COULD RESULT IN FURTHER FLOODING ALONG STREAMS IN
CLEARFIELD COUNTY WHERE A FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT AND MAY
HAVE TO BE EXTENDED BEYOND 10PM.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS THE WEST VIRGINIA
PANHANDLE WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA AFTER 9PM.
BE ALERT FOR ANY THREATENING WEATHER.

SISK

The office that day

Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 3, 9:06 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZClearfield4 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.