Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 41, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

September 20, 1989Bucks County, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this flash flood warning at Sep 20, 1989, 6:30 PM EDT for Bucks County, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 20, 1989, 6:30 PM EDT (22:30 UTC)
Expired
Sep 20, 1989, 9:00 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bucks County, PA, Montgomery 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

Atlantic City In, NJ (KACY), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 111 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, Atlantic City In, NJ at 12:00Z on 1989-09-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 441 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Atlantic City In, NJ at 12:00Z on 1989-09-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 36 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
441 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
545 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
49 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 KPHL 202240
FFWPHL
PAC017-091-210100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA PA
630 PM EDT WED SEP 20 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS EXTENDED AN URBAN AND SMALL STREAM
FLOOD WARNING UNTIL 900 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES

   IN THE SOUTHEAST PART OF PENNSYLVANIA
      EASTERN BUCKS...EASTERN MONTGOMERY

URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING CONTINUES OVER MUCH OF THE EASTERN
PORTIONS OF BUCKS AND MONTGOMERY COUNTIES IN SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA.
THE AUTOMATIC STREAM GAUGE ON THE NESHAMINY CREEK AT LANGHORNE REPORTED
A LEVEL OF 10.49 FEET SHORTLY AFTER 600 PM.  THE FLOOD STAGE OF THE
NESHAMINY CREEK AT LANGHORNE IN 9.00 FEET.  ANOTHER AUTOMATIC STREAM
GAUGE LOCATED ON THE PERKIOMEN CREEK AT GRATERFORD INDICATED A LEVEL OF
11.01 FEET.  THE FLOOD STAGE OF THE PERKIOMEN CREEK AT GRATERFORD IS
11.00 FEET.

WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT 630 PM INDICATED AN AREA OF SHOWERS WITH
HEAVY RAIN OVER EASTERN SECTIONS OF CHESTER COUNTY...EXTENDING EAST
INTO DELAWARE COUNTY.  THIS AREA OF PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING NORTHEAST
AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.  GROUND CONDITIONS REMAIN SATURATED FROM HEAVY
RAINFALL EARLIER TODAY...AND ANY ADDITIONAL HEAVY PRECIPITATION WILL
CAUSE SMALL STREAM AND CREEK LEVELS TO FURTHER RISE...AND CONTINUE
URBAN FLOODING PROBLEMS THROUGH THIS EVENING.

IF YOU LIVE IN THE WARNED COUNTIES AND ARE IN AN AREA SUBJECT TO
FLOODING...PLEASE MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.  DO NOT DRIVE
THROUGH FLOOD WATERS.  CLIMBING ATOP YOUR STALLED VEHICLE WILL NOT
PREVENT YOU FROM BEING SWEPT INTO DANGEROUS STREAM CONDITIONS AS WATER
LEVELS RISE.

AN URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM
FOR MERCER COUNTY IN CENTRAL NEW JERSEY.  A FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN
EFFECT FOR TONIGHT FOR THE RANCOCAS CREEK IN BURLINGTON COUNTY OF NEW
JERSEY.

DAW

The office that day

Everything else NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 20, 7:42 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIMontgomery3 hr
Sep 20, 8:14 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIBucks3 hr
Sep 20, 2:33 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIBucks, Montgomery3 hr

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.