Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 24, NWS Cleveland, OH

June 20, 1989Elk County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this flash flood warning at Jun 20, 1989, 12:16 PM EDT for Elk County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jun 20, 1989, 12:16 PM EDT (16:16 UTC)
Expired: Jun 20, 1989, 4:15 PM EDT
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: NWS Cleveland, OH
Area: Whole counties

County Elk 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 12:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 166 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 126 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 602 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 75 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 KERI 201616
FFWERI
PAC047-202015-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE PA
1216 PM EDT TUE JUN 20 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A URBAN AND SMALL 
STREAM FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 415 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN 
THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF PENNSYLVANIA
      ELK

FLOODING WAS REPORTED NEAR ELBON AND BROCKPORT IN ELK COUNTY
AT 1210PM. MANY STREAMS ARE OVER OR NEAR BANKFULL.  ALSO MANY
BASEMENTS ARE BEING PUMPED.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS IMMINENT.
MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO
CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY.
NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT.
TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE 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 IMMEDIATELY.
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING IS IMMINENT.  IT IS IMPORTANT TO
KNOW WHERE YOU ARE IN RELATION TO STREAMS...RIVERS...OR CREEKS THAT
CAN BECOME DEADLY WHEN SWOLLEN BY HEAVY RAIN.

 REEDY

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, Jun 20, 7:03 AM EDT, 5 hours 13 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOLEDO OH
602 AM EDT TUE JUN 20 1989

DENSE FOG HAD DEVELOPED OVERNIGHT ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHWEST OHIO AFTER
A LITTLE OVER 3 INCHES OF RAIN FELL IN YESTERDAYS DELUGE.

VISIBILITIES WERE REDUCED TO NEAR ZERO ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST
OHIO THIS MORNING AND MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO USE EXTREME CAUTION WHILE
TRAVELING. YESTERDAYS RAIN SATURATED THE GROUND AND AIR ACROSS THE AREA
AND AS TEMPERATURES DROPPED INTO THE LOW 60S RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WERE
NEAR 100 PERCENT.

A LITTLE BLUE SKY WAS JUST BARELY DICERNABLE THROUGH THE FOG SO THE
LIKELYHOOD OF SOME SUNSHINE LATER THIS MORNING WOULD SEEM ALMOST A SURE
THING. THE FOG SHOULD BURN OFF INTO A HAPZY SUNSHINE WITH CONDITIONS
TURNING QUITE MUGGY BY EARLY AFTERNOON.

COVERT

Special weather statement, Jun 20, 7:13 AM EDT, 5 hours 3 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT..COR..
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOLEDO OH
712 AM EDT TUE JUN 20 1989

DENSE FOG HAD DEVELOPED OVERNIGHT ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHWEST OHIO AFTER
A LITTLE OVER 3 INCHES OF RAIN FELL IN YESTERDAYS DELUGE.

VISIBILITIES WERE REDUCED TO NEAR ZERO ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST
OHIO THIS MORNING AND MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO USE EXTREME CAUTION WHILE
TRAVELING. YESTERDAYS RAIN SATURATED THE GROUND AND AIR ACROSS THE AREA
AND AS TEMPERATURES DROPPED INTO THE LOW 60S RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WERE
NEAR 100 PERCENT.

A LITTLE BLUE SKY WAS JUST BARELY DICERNABLE THROUGH THE FOG SO THE
LIKELYHOOD OF SOME SUNSHINE LATER THIS MORNING WOULD SEEM ALMOST A SURE
THING. THE FOG SHOULD BURN OF[F INTO A HAZY SUNSHINE WITH CONDITIONS
TURNING QUITE MUGGY BY EARLY AFTERNOON.

COVERT
...CORRECTED FOR TIME IN HEADER...

Special weather statement, Jun 20, 8:26 AM EDT, 3 hours 50 minutes before

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR OHIO
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
825 AM EDT TUE JUN 20 1989

THE NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER IN KANSAS CITY SAYS THAT
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED IN OHIO TODAY OR TONIGHT.

KWIATKOWSKI

Special weather statement, Jun 20, 9:17 AM EDT, 2 hours 59 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE, PA
904 AM EDT TUE JUN 20 1989

...ROADWAY AND LOW LYING AREA FLOODING IS OCCURRING IN ERIE COUNTY IN...
...NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...
...A FLOOD WATCH FOR STREAMS AND CREEKS IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF WESTERN...
...PENNSYLVANIA UNTIL 400 PM TODAY...

MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINS OVERNIGHT AND THIS MORNING ARE CAUSING SOME
FLOODING OF ROADWAYS AND LOW LYING AREAS IN ERIE COUNTY.
THE HEAVIEST RAINS OVERNIGHT FELL NEAR THE PENNSYLVANIA LAKESHORE WITH
THE ERIE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RECIEVING 1.2 INCHES OF RAIN THROUGH 900
AM THIS MORNING.

WEATHER RADAR SHOWS THE HEAVIEST RAINS CONTINUING TO OCCUR OVER ERIE COUNTY.
IF 1 INCH OF RAIN OCCURS IN 1 HOUR...2 INCHES IN 3 HOURS OR 3 INCHES IN
12 HOURS FLOODING OF STREAMS AND CREEKS WILL BEGIN.

PERSONS LIVING IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS NEAR STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD REMAIN
ALERT FOR RISING WATER. DRIVERS ARE CAUTIONED NOT TO DRIVE THROUGH
RUNNING WATER3 OR FLOODED AREAS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION.

PARRISH/WELLS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 20, 2:08 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	CLE	Forest, Venango	2 hr
Jun 20, 4:13 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	CLE	Elk, Forest, McKean, Warren	4 hr
Jun 20, 4:13 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	CLE	Venango	4 hr
Jun 20, 7:08 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	CLE	Potter	5 hr
Jun 20, 7:38 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	CLE	Cameron	5 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1989 Every flash flood warning in 1989

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.