Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS State College, PA

May 16, 1989Franklin County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at May 16, 1989, 8:33 PM EDT for Franklin County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 1989, 8:33 PM EDT (00:33 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1989, 2:30 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 112 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 1989-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 57 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 1989-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 126 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
57 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
553 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
127 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 170037
FFWHAR
PAC055-171200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA
833 PM EDT TUE MAY 16 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HARRISBURG HAS ISSUED A
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 AM EDT
WEDNESDAY FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
          ...FRANKLIN
 
HEAVY RAINS OF TODAY HAVE PUT MANY STREAMS IN THE FRANKLIN COUNTY
AREA OUT OF THERE BANKS.
 
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONEL IN FRANKLIN COUNTY REPORT STREAMS OUT OF
THERE BANKS IN THE COUNTY AND PERSONS LIVING ALONG ANY STREAMS IN THE
COUNTY SHOULD KEEP ALERT AND TAKE NESSARY PRECAUTIONS.
 
RAIN WILL CONTINUE UNTIL AFTER MIDNIGHT AND MOST STREAMS WILL NOT
RECEED UNTIL THE EARLY MORNING HOURS.
 
 
 
 
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.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT 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 UP 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 16, 3:09 PM EDT, 5 hours 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA.
305 PM EDT    TUE  MAY 16 1989

 ....SMALL STREAMS APPROACHING BANKFULL STAGES IN FULTON AND FRANKLIN
     COUNTIES...

THE HEAVY RAINS OF TODAY HAVE CAUSED MANY SMALL STREAMS IN FULTON
AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES TO RISE TO NEAR BANKFUL.

RADAR SHOWS RAIN CONTINUING ACROSS THESE COUNTIES BUT THE RAIN AREA HAS
DECREASED SOMEWHAT DURING THE PAST HOUR.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONAL FROM FULTON AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES INDICATED
TO THIS OFFICE THAT NO MAJOR PROBLEMS WERE OCCURRING ON THEIR CREEKS.
HOWEVER IF HEAVY RAIN WOULD REDEVELOP IN THESE AREAS A FLOOD WARNING WOULD
BE NEEDED.

PERSONS LIVING ALONG SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS IN FULGTON AND FRANKLIN
COUNTIES SHOULD KEEP ALERT FOR POSSIBLE FLOODING.
CURLL WSO HARRISBURG

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1989Every 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.