Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1988

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS State College, PA

May 17, 1988York County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at May 17, 1988, 8:05 PM EDT for York County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 1988, 8:05 PM EDT (00:05 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1988, 11:00 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County York 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 122 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 1988-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 1988-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -181 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-243 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
933 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-181 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-101 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.

000 
TTAA00 KHAR 180008
FFWHAR
PAC133-180300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA
805 PM EDT TUE MAY 17 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HARRISBURG HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
          ...YORK
 
YORK COUNTY CONTROL REPORTED THAT SOME STREETS AND ROADS WERE STILL
COVERED WITH WATER. SOME SMALL STREAM WERE STILL OUT OF THEIR BANKS
AND OTHER STILL RISING.
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE REGION FOR A FEW
MORE HOURS BUT THE HEAVIEST RAIN APPEARS TO BE OVER.
 
 
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

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, May 17, 2:44 PM EDT, 5 hours 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA
240 PM EDT TUE MAY 17 1988

PLEASE DO NOT USE AFTER 4 PM EDT

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR ADAMS COUNTY UNTIL 5PM...
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR FULTON FRANKLIN AND BEDFORD COUNTIES UNTIL
MIDNIGHT...
AT 230 PM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR WAS OBSERVING A
AREA OF SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SUSQUEHANNA
VALLEY AND THE SOUTHCENTRAL AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF PA SOUTH
ACROSS THE WESTERN PANHANDLE OF MARYLAND AND THE NORTHEAST
PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA. THE HEAVEST STORMS WERE IN WESTERN
MIFFLIN, IN WESTERN CUMBERLAND AND NORTHERN ADAMS AND FULTON COUNTIES.
THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST
AT ABOUT 15 TO 20 MPH AND COULD BE PRODUCING SOME LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINS, HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS.  HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED
IN ADAMS COUNTY.
WSO HAR HURLEY
Special weather statement, May 17, 3:40 PM EDT, 4 hours 25 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA
335 PM EDT TUE MAY 17 1988

PLEASE DO NOT USE AFTER 5 PM EDT

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR ADAMS COUNTY UNTIL 5PM...
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR FULTON FRANKLIN AND BEDFORD COUNTIES UNTIL
MIDNIGHT...

AT 325 PM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR WAS OBSERVING A
AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WESTERN AREAS OF THE
SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY AND THE SOUTHCENTRAL AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF PA
SOUTH ACROSS THE PANHANDLE OF MARYLAND AND WEST VIRGINIA INTO
NORTHWESTERN VIRGINIA. THE HEAVIEST STORMS WERE IN CENTRE, EASTERN
ADAMS AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES IN PA AND IN SOUTHERN FREDERICK COUNTY
IN VIRGINIA. THE SHOWERS AND (THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TO THE EAST
NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 15 TO 20 MPH AND COULD BE PRODUCING SOME LOCALLY
HEAVY RAINS, HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS.
WSO WSO HURLEY

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1988Every flash flood warning in 1988

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.