Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 103, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

September 12, 1990Cambria County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 12, 1990, 7:15 PM EDT for Cambria County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 12, 1990, 7:15 PM EDT (23:15 UTC)
Expired
Sep 12, 1990, 10:00 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Cambria 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 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 118 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 12:00Z on 1990-09-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 109 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 12:00Z on 1990-09-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 25 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
109 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-98 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1223 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
27 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 KPIT 122320 RRA
FFWPIT
PAC021-130200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
715 PM EDT WED SEP 12 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...CAMBRIA COUNTY
 
AT 715 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED NEARLY STATIONARY THUNDERSTORMS OVER
CAMBRIA COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORMS WITH THE HEAVIEST RAINHS WERE OVER
NORTHERN CAMBRIA COUNTY NEAR CARROLTOWN AND EBENSBURG.
 
RAINFALL OF BETWEEN .75 AND 1.00 INCH PER HOURS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH
THESE STORMS.

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, Sep 12, 5:52 PM EDT, 1 hour 23 minutes before
PAZ005>006-130000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
545 PM EDT WED SEP 12 1990

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY DOWNPOURS OVER THE SOUTHERN
   LAUREL MOUNTAINS OF PENNSYLVANIA...

AT 545 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY
DOWNPOURS OVER SOUTHERN SOMERSET AND BEDFORD COUNTIES OF PENNSYLVANIA.

THE HEAVIEST RAINS WERE BETWEEN MYERSDALE AND HYNDMAN.

HEAVY RAINS CAN CAUSE RAPID RISES OF STREAMS AND CREEKS IN A SHORT
PERIOD OF TIME.  IF YOU LIVE ALONG...OR ARE CAMPING NEAR A STREAM OR
CREEK...KEEP ALERT IF HEAVY RAINS PERSIST OVER YOUR AREA.

MOTORISTS ON ROUTES 219 AND 220 SHOULD BE EXTRA CAREFUL AS PONDING OF
WATER IS POSSIBLE.

ELSEWHERE RADAR SHOWED A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS OVER MUCH OF WESTERN
PENNSYLVANIA SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80...AS WELL NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA
AND WESTERN MARYLAND.  IN MARYLAND THERE WHERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH
HEAVY RAINS NEAR DEEP CREEK LAKE AND CUMBERLAND.

OVER THE PAST HOUR COVERAGE AND INTENSITIES INCREASED WHILE MOVEMENT WAS
TO THE NORTHEAST AT LESS THAN 10 MPH.

PALKO

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.