Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1993

Flash Flood Warning 7, NWS State College, PA

March 24, 1993York County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Mar 24, 1993, 12:35 AM EST for York County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 24, 1993, 12:35 AM EST (05:35 UTC)
Expired
Mar 24, 1993, 5:00 AM EST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County York County, PA

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:37 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 122 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 1993-03-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 1993-03-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 411 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
527 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
411 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
635 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 KHAR 240544
FFWHAR
PAC133-241000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA
1235 AM EST WED MAR 24 1993

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HARRISBURG HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......

IN SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

   ...LANCASTER COUNTY

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED THAT LITTLE CHICKIES CREEK WAS OUT OF
ITS BANKS AT MEADOW VIEW ROAD IN NORTHERN LANCASTER COUNTY. THE CREEK WAS
BANKFULL BETWEEN MANHEIM AND MOUNT JOY RD.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES
CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

ADDITIONAL RISES OF CREEKS IN LANCASTER COUNTY ARE LIKELY AS ADDITIONAL RAIN
FALLS IN THE AREA.

CRUZ

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, Mar 23, 10:45 PM EST, 1 hour 50 minutes before
PAZ007-008-014-241000

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLIAMSPORT PA
1045 PM EST TUE MAR 23 1993

...PATCHY FREEZING RAIN STILL POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT ACROSS THE HIGHER
ELEVATIONS OF THE NORTHERN TIER...

WHILE TEMPERATURES ACROSS MOST OF THE NORTHERN TIER WERE ABOVE
FREEZING TUESDAY NIGHT...THERE WERE STILL A FEW ISOLATED AREAS WITH
TEMPERATURES BELOW THE FREEZING MARK. DUE TO THIS...THE RAIN CONTINUED
TO FREEZE...BUT MAINLY ON TREE LIMBS OR BRANCHES. WHILE THIS WILL NOT
BE A WIDESPREAD PROBLEM OVERNIGHT...ROADS ON SOME HILLTOPS ACROSS THE
NORTHERN TIER WILL BE ICY. ALSO...ISOLATED POWER OUTAGES ARE ANOTHER
POSSIBILITY...AS A SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATION OF ICE ON TREES COULD LEAD
TO DOWNED POWER LINES.

IN ANY CASE...MOTORISTS SHOULD STILL USE CAUTION IF TRAVELING ACROSS
THE NORTHERN TIER COUNTIES OVERNIGHT. REMEMBER BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES
ARE THE FIRST TO FREEZE UP.

TG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 23, 9:24 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPFranklin6 hr
Mar 23, 9:27 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPYork6 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1993Every flash flood warning in 1993

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.