Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1988
Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at May 18, 1988, 8:28 PM EDT for Franklin County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 18, 1988, 8:28 PM EDT (00:28 UTC)
- Expired
- May 19, 1988, 2:15 AM EDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Franklin 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, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 209 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 587 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 13 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 138 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 146 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KHAR 190029
FFWHAR
PAC055-190530-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA
828 PM EDT WED MAY 18 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HARRISBURG HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 130 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
...SOUTH CENTRAL FRANKLIN
AT 825 PM PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE AT CHAMBERSBURG REPORTED FLOODING
ON ROUTE 11 NORTHBOUND IN GREENCASTLE BORO.
RADAR HAS INDICATED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS
FRANKLIN COUNTY FOR THE PAST SEVERALS HOURS AND MAY CONTINUE TO DO SO
THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT.
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY. MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.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
Local storm report, May 18, 3:32 PM EDT, 4 hours 56 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA.
ISSUED 330 PM EDT WED MAY 18 1988
EVENT DATE/TIME COUNTY CITY
4.5 INCHES OF RAIN IN ONE HOUR.
REPORTED BY COUNTY EOC. 5/17/155PM EDT ADAMS CASHTOWN
PEA SIZE HAIL. DEPTH OF 6
INCHES. REPORTED BY HAMS. 5/17/320PM EDT ADAMS NORTH OF
GETTYSBURG
PEA TO GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL.
REPORTED BY HAMS. 5/17/348PM EDT YORK JUST EAST OF
ABBOTTSTOWN
6-8 INCHES OF WATER ON ROUTE
116. REPORTED BY HAMS. 5/17/415PM EDT YORK NORTHWEST OF
HANOVER.
POWER LINES DOWN. REPORTED
BY HAMS. 5/17/440PM EDT YORK HANOVER
PENNYSIZE HAIL. REPORTED
BY COUNTY EOC. 5/17/424PM EDT YORK SPRINGROVE
END
WSO HAR NEFF,The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 11:31 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Adams | 5 hr |
| May 19, 5:46 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Adams | 6 hr |
| May 19, 7:34 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Lancaster | 6 hr |
| May 19, 8:45 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Clinton | 6 hr |
| May 19, 1:19 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Franklin | 6 hr |
| May 19, 2:10 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Lycoming | 6 hr |
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.