Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1994
Flash Flood Warning 38, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 26, 1994, 3:45 PM EDT for Columbia County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 26, 1994, 3:45 PM EDT (19:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 26, 1994, 6:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Columbia County, PA
The nearest sounding before it
Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 248 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 177 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -24 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 556 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 51 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 133 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCTP 261943 FFWCTP PAC037-261845- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 0345 PM EDT MON SEP 26 1994 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR SMALL CREEKS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...... IN PENNSYLVANIA ...COLUMBIA COUNTY SPOTTER REPORTS INDICATED THAT NUMEROUS SMALL STREAMS ARE OUT OF THEIR BANKS AND THAT PA ROUTE 487 HAS BEEN AFFECTED. THE HEAVY RAINFALL ALSO REPORTLY AFFECTED THE TOWN OF BLOOMSBURG WHERE STREET FLOODING OCCURRED. THE HEAVIEST RAIN HAS MOVED OUT OF THE AREA FOR NOW...BUT RADAR INDICATEMORE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING SOUTH OF COLUMBIA COUNTY AND COULD AFFECT THE AREA LATER THIS AFTERNOON. A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT 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 UP TO HIGHER GROUND.
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 26, 2:48 PM EDT, 57 minutes before
PAZ066-261950- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 248 PM EDT MON SEP 26 1994 ...SHORT LIVED WATER SPOUT ON THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA RIVER... A REPORT FROM THE POWER PLANT AT PEACHBOTTOM IN LANCASTER COUNTY INDICATES THAT A SHORT LIVED WATER SPOUT DROPPED OUT OF A RAIN SHOWER THAT WAS PASSING THROUGH THE AREA. POWER PLANT WITNESSES DESCRIBE A FUNNEL THAT DROPPED OUT OF THE CLOUD AND MADE CONTACT WITH THE WATER SURFACE...THEN MOVED APPROXIMATELY 1000 YARDS UP RIVER BEFORE LIFTING BACK INTO THE CLOUDS AND DISSIPATING. THEY REPORT THAT THE WATER SURFACE WAS CHURNED UP AROUND THIS FEATURE AND ALSO THAT NO DAMAGE WAS DONE. STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED ONLY WEAK TO MODERATE RAIN SHOWER ACTIVITY IN THE VICINITY OF PEACHBOTTOM AT THE TIME OF THE REPORT. DOPPLER PRODUCTS FROM THE RADAR SHOWED NO EVIDENCE OF A TORNADO. IT IS LIKELY THE FUNNEL WAS A WEAK SHORT LIVED LOCAL PHENOMENA THAT IS NOT UNCOMMON DURING UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS. THESE SYSTEMS SELDOM LAST MORE THAN A FEW MINUTES AND ALMOST NEVER DO ANY DAMAGE. CONDITIONS DO FAVOR MORE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON OVER EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. THE PRIMARY THREAT FOR THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON AND NIGHT TIME HOURS IS LIKELY TO BE HEAVY RAIN. THESE WEAK WATER SPOUTS ARE USUALLY SHORT LIVED. THEY HAVE HOWEVER...ON OCCASION TOUCHED THE GROUND AND CAUSED DAMAGE. BECAUSE OF THIS POSSIBILITY...YOU SHOULD SEEK A SAFE INDOOR SHELTER WHEN THESE FUNNELS ARE OBSERVED. LA CORTE
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 25, 9:07 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Warren | 38 min |
| Sep 25, 9:48 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Warren | 57 min |
| Sep 26, 3:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Bedford | 50 min |
| Sep 26, 4:36 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Dauphin, Northumberland | 54 min |
| Sep 26, 4:36 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Snyder | 54 min |
| Sep 26, 4:51 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Dauphin | 3 hr |
| Sep 26, 6:22 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Montour, Northumberland | 3 hr |
| Sep 26, 6:46 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Cambria, Clearfield | 44 min |
| Sep 26, 7:08 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Clearfield | 52 min |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1994Every flash flood warning in 1994
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.