Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 36, NWS Cleveland, OH

July 15, 1990Venango County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this flash flood warning at Jul 15, 1990, 4:40 AM EDT for Venango County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 15, 1990, 4:40 AM EDT (08:40 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 1990, 7:45 AM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

County Venango 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, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 114 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°0°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 KERI 150840
FFWERI
PAC121-151145-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE PA
440 AM EDT SUN JUL 15 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 745 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF PENNSYLVANIA
      VENANGO

AT 435 AM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED RAINFALL HEAVY ENOUGH TO
CAUSE FLOODING.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS 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 TO HIGHER GROUND.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE 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 IMMEDIATELY.
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING IS IMMINENT.  IT IS IMPORTANT TO
KNOW WHERE YOU ARE IN RELATION TO STREAMS...RIVERS...OR CREEKS THAT
CAN BECOME DEADLY WHEN SWOLLEN BY HEAVY RAIN.

 SANDSTROM

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 15, 4:38 AM EDT, 2 minutes before
OHZ001-002-011-151100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOLEDO OH
437 AM EDT SUN JUL 15 1990

AREAS OF DENSE FOG DEVELOPED OVER NORTHWEST OHIO EARLY THIS MORNING.

AT 430 AM THE VISIBILITY AT TOLEDO EXPRESS AIRPORT WAS NEAR ONE-EIGHTH
OF A MILE. IF YOU ARE TRAVELING THIS MORNING...YOU MAY ENCOUNTER AREAS
WHERE THE VISIBLITY IS NEAR ZERO. SLOW DOWN...USE LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS
AND ALLOW EXTRA TIME TO REACH YOUR DESTINATION.

VISIBILITY WILL IMPROVE BY MID-MORNING.

CB

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, 1:59 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLEMercer2 hr
Jul 15, 2:06 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLECrawford3 hr
Jul 15, 3:10 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLELawrence, Mercer3 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.