Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 12, NWS Cleveland, OH

June 18, 1990Elk County, McKean County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this flash flood warning at Jun 18, 1990, 10:36 AM EDT for Elk County, McKean County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 18, 1990, 10:36 AM EDT (14:36 UTC)
Expired
Jun 18, 1990, 2:00 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

Counties Elk County, PA, McKean 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

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 146 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 1990-06-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2093 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 1990-06-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 187 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
2093 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
690 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
187 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
153 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
7.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KPIT 181437
FFWERI
PAC047-083-181800-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE PA
ISSUED BY PITTSBURGH PA
1036 AM EDT MON JUN 18 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  200 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...ELK COUNTY...MCKEAN COUNTY
 
AT 1035 AM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH TORRENTIAL RAINS
OVER MCKEAN AND ELK COUNTIES. NUMEROUS REPORTS OF ROADWAY FLOODING
HAVE BEEN REPORTED NEAR BRADFORD...WITH 2 INCHES OF RAIN ALREADY
FALLEN.
 
 
 
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.
 
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.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT.  IT'S
IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO STREAMS...RIVERS...OR
CREEKS WHICH CAN BECOME KILLERS IN HEAVY RAINS.  CAMPERS SHOULD
AVOID CAMPING ALONG STREAMS OR CREEKS DURING THREATENING RAINS.

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 18, 5:19 AM EDT, 5 hours 17 minutes before
OHZALL-191200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR OHIO
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
520 AM EDT MON JUN 18 1990

THE NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER IN KANSAS CITY SAYS THAT
THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANfCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHEAST OHIO TODAY.
NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED IN OHIO TONIGHT.

SJN
Special weather statement, Jun 18, 5:30 AM EDT, 5 hours 6 minutes before
PAZ001-002-181100
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE, PA
530 AM EDT MON JUN 18 1990

...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE HEADED FOR NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA
AND  THE PENNSYLVANIA WATERS OF LAKE ERIE...

AT 530 AM ERIE WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
SITUATED FROM ASHTABULA COUNTY IN OHIO AND EXTENDING NORTH ACROSS LAKE
ERIE INTO THE PORT BURWELL AND LONG POINT AREAS.

THE LINE WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT AROUND 45 TO 50 MILES AND HOUR AND
WILL BE MOVING INTO PARTS OF NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA AND THE PENNSYLVANIA
WATERS OF LAKE ERIE...BETWEEN 545 AND 600 AM THIS MORNING.

SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS
AND HAIL.
SANDSTROM
Special weather statement, Jun 18, 6:10 AM EDT, 4 hours 26 minutes before
OHZ004-007-DDHHHH-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AKRON CANTON OH
610 AM EDT MON JUN 18 1990

AT 600 AM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER
EAST CENTRAL OHIO THAT EXTEND FROM NEAR ST. CLAIRSVILLE IN BELMONT
COUNTY SOUTH TO MARIETTA IN WASHINGTON COUNTY. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING
EAST AT 35 MPH AND COULD PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS... SMALL HAIL...
AND BRIEF WIND GUST AS THEY MOVE THROUGH.

THESE STORMS SHOU$LD REACH THE OHIO RIVER IN BELMONT AND MONROE COUNTIES
BETWEEN 630AM AND 700AM.

ALTO
Special weather statement, Jun 18, 10:17 AM EDT, 19 minutes before
PAZ003-181600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE YOUNGSTOWN OH
1016 AM EDT MON JUN 18 1990

THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE MOVING THROUGH LAWRENCE COUNTY
PENNSYLVANIA THIS MORNING.

AT 1010 AM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS FROM FRANKLIN PENNSYLVAINA THROUGH NEWCASTLE TO
THE OHIO-PENNSYLVANIA BORDER. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT
35 MPH AND WILL MOVE OUT OF LAWRENCE COUNTY BY 11 AM.

VERvY HEAVY RAIN... STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL ARE POSSIBLE
WITH THE PASSAGE OF THESE STORMS.

APFEL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 18, 5:54 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEErie66 min
Jun 18, 6:53 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEErie82 min
Jun 18, 9:08 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEMcKean67 min
Jun 18, 11:14 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLEPotter61 min
Jun 18, 11:14 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEPotter61 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1990Every flash flood warning in 1990

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.