Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 17, NWS State College, PA

October 23, 1990Lycoming County, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Oct 23, 1990, 3:03 PM EDT for Lycoming County, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 23, 1990, 3:03 PM EDT (19:03 UTC)
Expired
Oct 23, 1990, 9:00 PM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lycoming County, PA, Sullivan 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, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 232 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 1990-10-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1990-10-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 97 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
543 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
97 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
161 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 KIPT 231903
FFWIPT
PAC081-113-240100-

BULLETIN-EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLIAMSPORT PA
303 PM EDT TUE OCT 23 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING
FOR ALL STREAMS IN LYCOMING AND SULLIVAN COUNTIES OF NORTHCENTRAL
PENNSYLVANIA EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 PM EDT THIS EVENING.

RAIN HAS BEEN FALLING OVER MOST OF LYCOMING AND SULLIVAN COUNTIES
SINCE 1100 PM EDT LAST NIGHT.  AMOUNTS HAVE VARIED FROM JUST OVER 1
INCH TO NEARLY 3 INCHES IN ISOLATED SPOTS.  

AT 245 PM EDT MANY STREAMS WERE STARTING TO SHOW MODERATE RISES.  AS
THIS HEAVY RAIN RUNS OFF...SIGNIFICANT RISES WILL OCCUR ON ALL
STREAMS.  MINOR FLOODING CAN BE EXPECTED ON STREAMS IN LYCOMING AND
SULLIVAN COUNTIES FOR THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING.

A SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT SMALL STREAM FLOODING IS
IMMINENT OR IS ALREADY OCCURRING.  TAKE NECESSARY SAFETY STEPS OR
PRECAUTIONS AS SOON AS PO-SSIBLE.

TO REPORT FLOODING CALL THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY OR
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICE AND ASK THEM TO RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

HM/PMG/KF

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, Oct 23, 11:01 AM EDT, 4 hours 2 minutes before
PAZ006-009-231700-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA.
1055 AM EDT   TUE  OCT 23 1990

...RAINS CONTINUE OVER MUCH OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA AND SMALL STREAM
   FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT...

AT 1045 AM WE RECEIVED A REPORT FROM CUMBERLAND COUNTY THAT THE MOUNTAIN
CREEK...BELOW LAUREL LAKE WAS NEAR BANKFUL AND ABOVE THE LAKE IT WAS
BEGINNING TO OVERSPILL ITS BANKS.

ADAMS COUNTY REPORTED SOME WATER ON ROADWAYS BUT ALL ROADS PASSABLE.
SOME BASEMENT FLOODING REPORTED.

EARLIER HUNTINGDON COUNTY REPORTED SOME WATER ON ROADS BUT ROADS WERE
PASSABLE...ALSO SOME REPORTS OF BASEMENT FLOODING.

RAINFALL SO FAR HAS BEEN IN THE ONE INCH TO ONE AND THREE QUARTER RANGE.

WSO HAR JORDAN
Special weather statement, Oct 23, 12:58 PM EDT, 2 hours 5 minutes before
PAZ008-009-231900-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA.
100 PM EDT   TUE  OCT 23 1990

...RAIN CONTINUES OVER MUCH OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA AND A SMALL STREAM
   FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT...

AT 1230 PM SOME ROADS WERE COVERED DUE TO MINOR FLOODING IN ADAMS
COUNTY.  ROADS WERE STILL PASSABLE.  1.6 INCHES OF RAIN HAD FALLEN
FROM MIDNIGHT TO 1100 AM.

AT 1236 PM NORTHERN NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY REPORTED MINOR STREET FLOODING
DUE TO LEAVES CLOGGING DRAINS.

RAIN WILL CONTINUE OVER THE WATCH AREA UNTIL LATE THIS EVENING.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATIOMS FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION.

TK
Special weather statement, Oct 23, 2:52 PM EDT, 11 minutes before
PAZ008-009-232100-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA.
300 PM EDT   TUE  OCT 23 1990

...A SMALL STREAM FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT...

AT 245  PM MOST AREAS OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA CONTINUED TO RECIEVE
LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN.  THE RAIN HAS BEEN SPREAD OVER ENOUGH TIME
THAT ONLY MINOR FLOODING OF SMALL CREEKS HAS OCCURRED SO FAR. THE SMALL
STREAM FLOOD WATCH WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL LATE THIS EVENING AS
RAIN IS EX$PECTED TO CONTINUE AND MOST AREA STREAMS ARE NEAR FULL NOW.

RAIN WILL CONTINUE OVER THE WATCH AREA UNTIL LATE THIS EVENING.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION ON THIS RAIN EVENT.

TK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 23, 3:05 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPHuntingdon3 hr
Oct 23, 3:19 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPYork4 hr
Oct 23, 3:31 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPMifflin4 hr
Oct 23, 3:40 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPBradford, Tioga5 hr
Oct 23, 4:00 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPUnion4 hr
Oct 23, 7:09 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPSnyder, Union3 hr
Oct 23, 7:09 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPYork3 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.