Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 31, NWS Cleveland, OH

July 15, 1990Mercer County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this flash flood warning at Jul 15, 1990, 1:59 AM EDT for Mercer County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 15, 1990, 1:59 AM EDT (05:59 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 1990, 4:00 AM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

County Mercer 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 00:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 100 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 1990-07-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 196 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 1990-07-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 123 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
196 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
784 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
123 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
187 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KYNG 150600
FFWYNG
PAC085-150800-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE YOUNGSTOWN OH
159 AM EDT SUN JUL 15 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN YOUNGSTOWN HAS ISSUED A
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA
          ...MERCER
 
AT 145 AM EDT WEATHER RADAR SHOWED RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1.5 INCHES
IN THE PAST TWO AND A HALF HOURS OVER THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE
COUNTY. ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL IS EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS.
 
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR cCAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE 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, Jul 14, 8:40 PM EDT, 5 hours 19 minutes before
OHZ004-007-150200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AKRON CANTON OH
840 PM EDT SAT JUL 14 1990

HEAVY RAINS WERE FALLING ON PARTS OF EASTERN OHIO THIS EVENING.

AT 830 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH
LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN OVER NORTHERN JEFFERSON... EASTERN CARROLL AND
COLUMBINA COUNTIES. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 20 MPH.

MANY STREAMS AND CREEKS IN THAT AREA OF OHIO WERE RUNNING AT NEAR
BANKFULL... SO IF THE HEAVY RAIN LASTS MUCH LONGER THERE COULD BE SOME
FLOODING.

IF YOU LIVE NEAR A STREAM IN EASTERN OHIO... BE ESPECIALLY ALERT THIS
EVENING. YOU MAY HAVE TO ACT QUICKLY IF FLOODING OCCURS.

RN
FK
Special weather statement, Jul 14, 9:47 PM EDT, 4 hours 12 minutes before
OHZ004-150400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE YOUNGSTOWN OH
946 PM EDT SAT JUL 14 1990

HEAVY RAINS WERE FALLING OVER AREAS OF NORTHEAST OHIO THIS EVENING.

AT 940 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH
LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN OVER COLUMBIANA AND MAHONING COUNTIES FROM
YOUNGSTOWN TO EAST LIVERPOOL. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT
30 MPH.

MANY STREAMS AND CREEKS IN NORTHEAST OHIO WERE RUNNING AT NEAR
BANKFULL AND FLOODING COULD RESULT IF THE HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES.

IF YOU LIVE NEAR A STREAM IN NORTHEAST OHIO... BE ESPECIALLY ALERT THIS
EVENING. YOU MAY HAVE TO ACT QUICKLY IF FLOODING OCCURS.

SLA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 15, 1:07 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLELawrence2 hr
Jul 15, 2:06 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLECrawford3 hr
Jul 15, 3:10 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLELawrence, Mercer3 hr
Jul 15, 4:40 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLEVenango3 hr
Jul 15, 5:26 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLEWarren3 hr
Jul 15, 5:44 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLECrawford3 hr
Jul 15, 7:39 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLECrawford, Venango, Warren2 hr
Jul 15, 9:53 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLECrawford, Venango, Warren3 hr

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.