Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 21, NWS State College, PA

November 16, 1989Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Nov 16, 1989, 10:40 AM EST for Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Nov 16, 1989, 10:40 AM EST (15:40 UTC)
Expired
Nov 16, 1989, 1:45 PM EST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Lancaster 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 12:00Z, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 157 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 12:00Z on 1989-11-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 6 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 12:00Z on 1989-11-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 63 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
6 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
588 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
60 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 161542
FFWHAR
PAC071-161845-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA
1040 AM EST THU NOV 16 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HARRISBURG HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  145 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
          ...LANCASTER
 
LANCASTER COUNTY CONTROL REPORTED THAT CHICKIES CREEK WAS OUT OF ITS
BANKS. THIS REPORT WAS RECEIVED AROUND 1030 AM THIS MORNING.
 
THE HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DUMPED ALL THE RAIN WERE NOW WELL EAST OF
LANCASTER COUNTY BUT THE RUNOFF WILL CONTINUE...POSSIBLY A FEW MORE
HOURS.
 
LIGHTER RAIN WILL CONTINUE INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS.
 
 
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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 16, 9:05 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPAdams, York55 min
Nov 16, 9:57 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLancaster48 min

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.