Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 140, NWS Cleveland, OH

July 19, 1996Erie County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this flash flood warning at Jul 19, 1996, 3:48 PM EDT for Erie County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 3 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
Jul 19, 1996, 3:48 PM EDT (19:48 UTC)
Expired
Jul 19, 1996, 6:45 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

County Erie County, PA

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 145 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:51 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

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 146 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 1996-07-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 186 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 1996-07-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 353 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
186 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-65 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
831 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
353 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
361 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCLE 191951
FFWCLE
PAC049-192245-
 
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
348 PM EDT FRI JUL 19 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING FOR SMALL STREAMS
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...ERIE COUNTY
 
RAINFALL LATE LAST NIGHT ACROSS NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA WAS STILL
CONTINUING TO CAUSE FLOODING ALONG SEVERAL SMALL STREAMS IN ERIE COUNTY.
FLOODING WAS REPORTED NORTH OF ALBION NEAR STATE ROUTES 215 AND 6
NORTH. RESIDENTS IN WESTERN ERIE COUNTY CAN EXPECT FLOODING TO CONTINUE
FOR THE NEXT ONE TO THREE HOURS.  WATERS SHOULD BEGIN RECEEDING EARLY
THIS EVENING.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  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.
 
RINGO
 
&

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 19, 12:37 PM EDT, 3 hours 11 minutes before
OHZ002-OHZ05-200000-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
1235 PM EDT FRI JUL 19 1996

HEAVY RAINS FELL ACROSS PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST OHIO
FROM WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING.  AS A RESULT...WATER
LEVELS ALONG THE AUGLAIZE RIVER IN SOUTHWEST DEFIANCE COUNTY WERE
RISING EARLY THIS AFTERNOON SOUTH OF THE DAM.

WHILE FLOODING IS NOT EXPECTED ALONG THE RIVER AT THIS TIME...
ACCORDING TO THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY...THE RISE IN WATER
LEVELS MAY PRESENT A PROBLEM FOR BOATS MOORED ALONG THE RIVER.

THOSE WITH BOATS MOORED ALONG THE AUGLAIZE RIVER IN DEFIANCE COUNTY
ARE URGED TO CHECK THEIR MOORINGS.

TK
Special weather statement, Jul 19, 12:40 PM EDT, 3 hours 8 minutes before
OHZ002-OHZ005-200000-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED CODING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
1240 PM EDT FRI JUL 19 1996

HEAVY RAINS FELL ACROSS PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST OHIO
FROM WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING.  AS A RESULT...WATER
LEVELS ALONG THE AUGLAIZE RIVER IN SOUTHWEST DEFIANCE COUNTY WERE
RISING EARLY THIS AFTERNOON SOUTH OF THE DAM.

WHILE FLOODING IS NOT EXPECTED ALONG THE RIVER AT THIS TIME...
ACCORDING TO THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY...THE RISE IN WATER
LEVELS MAY PRESENT A PROBLEM FOR BOATS MOORED ALONG THE RIVER.

THOSE WITH BOATS MOORED ALONG THE AUGLAIZE RIVER IN DEFIANCE COUNTY
ARE URGED TO CHECK THEIR MOORINGS.

TK

The office that day

Everything else NWS Cleveland, OH issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 19, 1:37 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLEErie2 hr
Jul 19, 2:14 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLECrawford2 hr
Jul 19, 3:41 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECrawford49 min
Jul 19, 4:09 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLECrawford, Erie3 hr
Jul 19, 4:43 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLECrawford2 hr
Jul 19, 6:53 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLECrawford2 hr
Jul 19, 8:58 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLECrawford2 hr
Jul 19, 11:04 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLECrawford4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 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.