Alert archive / New York / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 52, NWS Albany, NY

December 2, 1996Ulster County, New York

NWS Albany, NY issued this flash flood warning at Dec 2, 1996, 1:10 AM EST for Ulster County, New York. It was in force for 11 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 2, 1996, 1:10 AM EST (06:10 UTC)
Expired
Dec 2, 1996, 12:00 PM EST
In force
11 hr
Issued by
NWS Albany, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Ulster County, NY

The radar

The Albany radar (KENX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:10 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

Albany, NY (KALB), launched 00:00Z, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 96 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, Albany, NY at 00:00Z on 1996-12-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Albany, NY at 00:00Z on 1996-12-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 427 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
522 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
427 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
633 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 KALB 020613
FFWALB
NYC111-021300-

BULLETIN-EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
110 AM EST MON DEC 2 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLOOD WARNING THROUGH NOON
MONDAY FOR THE ESOPUS CREEK ABOVE THE ASHOKAN RESERVOIR.

NEARLY THREE INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN IN THE PAST 24 HOURS OVER THE
SOUTHERN CATSKILLS.  AN ADDITIONAL 1/2 TO 3/4 INCH WILL FALL BEFORE
THE RAIN TAPERS OFF LATE TONIGHT.

THE ESOPUS CREEK AT MT. TREMPER HAS BEEN RISING RAPIDLY TONIGHT.
AT 1 AM THE RIVER HAD RISEN TO 10.9 FEET WHICH IS JUST BELOW THE 11
FOOT FLOOD STAGE.  THE RIVER WILL CREST NEAR 12 FEET BY ABOUT 7 AM
MONDAY.  BY NOON THE RIVER WILL BE BACK BELOW FLOOD STAGE.  THE
ASHOKAN DAM WILL IMPOUND THE FLOOD WATERS...AND THERE SHOULD BE NO
FLOODING DOWNSTREAM OF THE ASHOKAN.
IF YOU LIVE ALONG THE ESOPUS CREEK...DOWNSTREAM FROM THE GILBOA
DAM BE PREPARED FOR FLOODING.  BE ESPECIALLY ALERT IF YOU/RE
TRAVELING.  DON/T DRIVE THROUGH FLOODED ROADS AND REMEMBER...FLOOD
DANGERS ARE ESPECIALLY DIFFICULT TO RECOGNIZE AT NIGHT.

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, Dec 1, 9:52 PM EST, 3 hours 18 minutes before
NYZ041>043-050>054-058>061-063>066-VTZ011>014-MAZ001-CTZ001-
020600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
955 PM EST SUN DEC 1 1996

...STRONG WINDS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL A LITTLE AFTER MIDNIGHT AND THEN
   GRADUALLY DIE DOWN OVERNIGHT...

A WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR EASTERN NEW YORK AND WESTERN
NEW ENGLAND THROUGH 1 AM MONDAY MORNING.  WINDS WILL BE ESPECIALLY
STRONG AT ELEVATIONS ABOVE 1000 FEET...ALTHOUGH STRONG WIND GUSTS MAY
OCCUR IN VALLEYS...WITH HEAVY SHOWERS.

THERE HAVE BEEN SCATTERED REPORTS OF DOWNED TREES AND POWER OUTAGES
ACROSS THE REGION.  LOCAL POWER OUTAGES REMAIN POSSIBLE UNTIL THE
WINDS DIE DOWN LATER TONIGHT.

WHEN DRIVING BE PREPARED FOR SUDDEN STRONG GUSTS OF WIND THAT COULD
JAR YOUR VEHICLE OFF COURSE.  HAVE A FIRM GRIP ON THE STEERING WHEEL.
HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES...SUCH AS VANS...ARE MOST LIKELY TO BE EFFECTED
BY THE WIND.

HWJIV/LAPENTA
Special weather statement, Dec 2, 1:02 AM EST, 8 minutes before
NYZ041>043-050>054-058>061-063>066-VTZ011>014-MAZ001-CTZ001-
020700-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
100 AM MON DEC 2 1996

...THE WIND WILL SLOWLY DIMINISH OVERNIGHT...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ALLOWED THE WIND ADVISORY FOR
EASTERN NEW YORK AND WESTERN NEW ENGLAND TO EXPIRE.  WHILE THE WIND
WILL CONTINUE TO BLOW FROM THE SOUTH 15 TO 30 MPH FOR AWHILE...THIS
IS GENERALLY NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO PRODUCE ANY DAMAGE. THE WIND WILL
SLOWLY RELAX TOWARD DAYBREAK AS IT TURNS MORE TO THE WEST.

HWJIV

The office that day

Everything else NWS Albany, NY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 2, 12:35 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningALYHamilton, Herkimer5 hr
Dec 2, 1:33 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningALYFulton, Montgomery, Schoharie4 hr
Dec 2, 3:25 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningALYUlster9 hr
Dec 2, 3:35 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningALYGreene7 hr
Dec 2, 3:35 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningALYWashington7 hr
Dec 2, 6:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningALYMontgomery, Schoharie4 hr
Dec 2, 6:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningALYFulton, Hamilton, Herkimer4 hr
Dec 2, 6:58 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningALYWarren4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in New York, 1996Every flash flood warning in 1996

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.