Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 155, NWS Cleveland, OH

August 8, 1996Erie County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this flash flood warning at Aug 8, 1996, 8:29 PM EDT for Erie County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 2 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
Aug 8, 1996, 8:29 PM EDT (00:29 UTC)
Expired
Aug 8, 1996, 10:30 PM EDT
In force
2 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 00:31 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 190 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 00:00Z on 1996-08-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 49 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 00:00Z on 1996-08-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 82 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
49 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-153 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
986 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
82 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
97 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCLE 090029
FFWCLE
PAC049-090230-
 
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
829 PM EDT THU AUG 8 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING FOR URBAN AREAS AND SMALL STREAMS
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...ERIE COUNTY
 
AT 820 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A THUNDERSTORM
WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS NEARLY STATIONARY NEAR THE CITY OF ERIE.
 
AN INCH OF RAIN WAS REPORTED IN 15 MINUTES IN WEST MILLCREEK NEAR THE
CITY OF ERIE. RADAR ALSO INDICATED THAT AROUND ONE TO TWO INCHES OF
RAIN FELL BETWEEN 715 PM AND 815 PM IN THIS AREA.
 
THE STORM WAS MOVING SLOWLY SOUTHEAST AND MAY DROP ANOTHER ONE TO TWO
INCHES OF RAIN.
 
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.

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

Local storm report, Aug 8, 6:04 PM EDT, 2 hours 25 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OHIO
605 PM EDT THU AUG 08 1996

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1240 PM    NEWTON FALLS              OH   WIND DAMAGE
08/08/96   TRUMBULL                       LARGE TREE AND NUMEROUS
                                          BRANCHES DOWN

0115 PM    AKRON                     OH   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/96   SUMMIT

0130 PM    CANTON                    OH   WIND DAMAGE
08/08/96   STARK                          SEVERAL TREES DOWN AROUND
                                          THE COUNTY

0134 PM    ALLIANCE                  OH   WIND DAMAGE
08/08/96   STARK                          SEVERAL TREES WERE BLOWN
                                          DOWN IN THE CITY

0330 PM    CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS         PA   FLOODING
08/08/96   CRAWFORD                       SEVERAL ROADS FLOODED ON
                                          THE CRAWFORD/ERIE COUNTY
                                          LINE

0419 PM    CARDINGTON                OH   TORNADO
08/08/96   MORROW                         A SMALL TORNADO APPARENTLY
                                          DESTROYED A BARN ON A FARM
                                          NEAR CARDINGTON

0523 PM    EDINBORO                  PA   FLOODING
08/08/96   ERIE                           SEVERAL ROADS WERE FLOODED
                                          NEAR THE ERIE/CRAWFORD
                                          COUNTY LINE

0515 PM    BENTON                    OH   WIND DAMAGE
08/08/96   HOLMES                         TREES DOWN COUNTY ROAD 207
                                          NEAR BENTON

LG

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.