Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1994

Flash Flood Warning 39, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

July 20, 1994Cambria County, Somerset County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 20, 1994, 5:25 PM EDT for Cambria County, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 20, 1994, 5:25 PM EDT (21:25 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 1994, 7:30 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cambria County, PA, Somerset County, PA

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 106 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 1994-07-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 777 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 1994-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 27 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
777 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-52 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1108 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
24 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 202124
FFWPIT
PAC021-111-202330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
525 PM EDT WED JUL 20 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...CAMBRIA COUNTY...SOMERSET COUNTY
 
AT 520 PM DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY
RAIN OVER SOMERSET COUNTY NORTH OF THE TOWN OF SOMERSET AND OVER CAMBRIA
COUNTY NEAR THE JOHNSTOWN AIRPORT. THE STORMS WERE NEARLY STATIONARY.
 
DIME SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT GEISTOWN IN CAMBRIA COUNTY.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO( AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
 
 
&

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 20, 4:50 PM EDT, 35 minutes before
PAZ017-018-024-025-033-202300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
450 PM EDT WED JUL 20 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ACROSS THE SOUTH CENTRAL AND LAUREL
   MOUNTAINS OF PENNSYLVANIA...

AT 445 PM DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
DEVELOPING ALONG THE SOUTH CENTRAL AND LAUREL MOUNTAIN RIDGES FROM
NORTHERN CENTRE COUNTY NEAR BELLEFONTE...SOUTHWEST THROUGH
PHILIPSBURG...CRESSON...EAST OF JOHNSTOWN AND INTO SOMERSET COUNTY.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINED HEAVY RAINS AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND
LIGHTNING.

RADAR ESTIMATED THAT THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS FALLING ALONG THE
CAMBRIA-BLAIR COUNTY LINE...SOUTH OF CRESSON. THE HEAVY DOWNPOURS MAY
CAUSE RAPID RISES ON BEAR ROCK RUN IN EASTERN CAMBRIA COUNTY WHICH FLOWS
INTO THE TOWN OF LILLY.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER UPDATES.

REED/DRZAL/REHAK/WAGNER
Special weather statement, Jul 20, 4:53 PM EDT, 32 minutes before
PAZ017-018-024-025-033-202300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
450 PM EDT WED JUL 20 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ACROSS THE SOUTH CENTRAL AND LAUREL
   MOUNTAINS OF PENNSYLVANIA...

AT 445 PM DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
DEVELOPING ALONG THE SOUTH CENTRAL AND LAUREL MOUNTAIN RIDGES FROM
NORTHERN CENTRE COUNTY NEAR BELLEFONTE...SOUTHWEST THROUGH
PHILIPSBURG...CRESSON...EAST OF JOHNSTOWN AND INTO SOMERSET COUNTY.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINED HEAVY RAINS AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND
LIGHTNING.

RADAR ESTIMATED THAT THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS FALLING ALONG THE
CAMBRIA-BLAIR COUNTY LINE...SOUTH OF CRESSON. THE HEAVY DOWNPOURS MAY
CAUSE RAPID RISES ON BEAR ROCK RUN IN EASTERN CAMBRIA COUNTY WHICH FLOWS
INTO THE TOWN OF LILLY.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER UPDATES.

REED/DRZAL/REHAK/WAGNER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 20, 7:30 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZBedford2 hr

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.