Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 87, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

July 21, 1990Fayette County, Greene County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 21, 1990, 8:48 PM EDT for Fayette County, Greene County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 21, 1990, 8:48 PM EDT (00:48 UTC)
Expired
Jul 21, 1990, 11:00 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Fayette County, PA, Greene 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, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 60 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 1990-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 97 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 1990-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -27 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
97 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
730 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPIT 220049 RRA
FFWPIT
PAC051-059-220300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
848 PM EDT SAT JUL 21 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...FAYETTE COUNTY...GREENE COUNTY
 
HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS IN GREENE COUNTY AT 845PM ARE PUSHING INTO FAYETTE
COUNTY AND COULD DROP ONE INCH OF RAIN IN ONE HOUR CAUSING FLASH
FLOODING. SERIOUS STREET FLOODING HAS ALREADY BEEN REPORTED IN
UNIONTOWN IN FAYETTE COUNTY WHERE ALMOST AN INCH OF RAIN FELL BETWEEN
730PM AND 830PM. THERE WAS ALSO FLOODING ON THE REDSTONE AND COALICK R
UNIONTOWN. MORE HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WILL PUSH THROUGH FAYETTE COUNTY W
THE NEXT HOUR.
 
 
MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWI
NG STREAM...EVEN A
SMALL ONE...ON FOOT.

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 21, 7:19 PM EDT, 1 hour 29 minutes before
PAZ003-005-006-013-014-015-WVZ001-230100

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
715 PM EDT SAT JUL 21 1990

...HEAVY RAIN FALLING IN EXTREME SOUTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA AND
AND MARHSALL COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA...

AT 715 PM PITTSBURGH WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SHOWERS AND
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM BELMONT COUNTY OHIO THROUGH MARSHALL COUNTY
WEST VIRGINIA ACROSS GREENE AND FAYETTE COUNTIES IN PENNSYLVANIA.

THE HEAVIEST RAINS WERE LOCATED OVER MARSHALL COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA
...AND GREENE AND FAYETTE COUNTIES IN PENNSYLVANIA.  RAINFALL IN
THESE AREAS WAS ESTIMATED TO BE GENERALLY TWO TO FOUR TENTHS /0.2 TO
0.4/ OF AN INCH PER HOUR.  SOME ISOLATED AREAS OF FAYETTE COUNTY9 AROUND
UNIONTOWN AND EASTERN GREENE COUNTY HAD NEARLY ONE INCH IN ONE HOUR.

THESE STORMS COULD DROP RAIN HEAVY ENOUGH TO CAUSE LOWLAND...POOR
DRAINAGE AND STREET FLOODING.

ALESSI/DRAKE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 22, 4:18 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZAllegheny, Butler102 min
Jul 22, 5:31 PM EDTTornado WarningPBZBeaver59 min
Jul 22, 5:58 PM EDTTornado WarningPBZButler62 min
Jul 22, 6:38 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZClearfield67 min
Jul 22, 6:57 PM EDTTornado WarningPBZButler63 min
Jul 22, 7:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZClarion66 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.