Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996
Flash Flood Warning 128, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 8, 1996, 6:13 PM EDT for Somerset 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
- Aug 8, 1996, 6:13 PM EDT (22:13 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 8, 1996, 9:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Somerset County, PA
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:13 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
Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 257 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
- 81 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -44 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 703 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 18 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 10 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 31 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCTP 082212 FFWCTP PAC111-090115- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 613 PM EDT THU AUG 8 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...... IN PENNSYLVANIA ...SOMERSET COUNTY DOPPLER RADAR IN STATE COLLEGE CONTINUES TO SHOW SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOMERSET COUNTY. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE OVER THE NORTHEASTERN PORTION OF THE COUNTY AT 6 PM. RAINFALL ESTIMATES OF 2 INCHES HAVE BEEN COMPUTED NEAR MEYERSDALE AND NEAR BUCKSTOWN. ANOTHER LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS TO THE WEST WILL PRODUCE ADDITIONAL RAINFALL LATER THIS EVENING. FLOODING IS POSSIBLE IN AREAS BENEATH THESE STORMS. 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. GRUMM
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.
NWS State College, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Aug 8, 1:46 PM EDT, 4 hours 27 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 8, 1:46 PM EDT, 4 hours 27 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 145 PM EDT THU AUG 8 1996 ...ZONE SUGGESTIONS... ...PIT...NO SIG CHANGES. ...PHL...WUD BE MORE PESSIMISTIC FRI...ESP LOWER SUSQ ...DISCUSSION... CONVECTION ERUPTING ON SCHEDULE AS HIGH THETA-E AIR AND SFC TROF APPROACH FROM THE OHIO VALLEY. ONLY QUESTION IS HOW MUCH CAN ATMOSPHERE REBOUND IN LIEU OF LEADING SQUALL LINE MOVING EAST ACROSS NRN ZONES NOW. ADAP SHOWS LI'S AS LOW AS -10 NOSING IN FROM WEST. MODELS CONTINUE TO PUMP BIG PRECIP WATERS INTO LOCAL AREA AS SFC FRONT SLIDES EAST. SO FAR SEVERE SIGNATURES HARD TO COME BY WITH ONLY THE OCNL HIGH VIL. STORMS SHOWING SOME TENDENCY FOR ROTATION IN PLACES BUT WINDS OFF RADAR REFLECT WEAK ATMOSPHERIC FLOW. FFA MAY HAVE TO BE EXTENDED LATER PENDING LATEST DEVELOPMENTS. WITH BEST DYNAMICS YET TO COME OVERNIGHT...AND FEATURES MOVING INTO DECELERATING FLOW THE DANGER IS FOR SLOW MOVING DOWNPOURS TO BEGIN CAUSING FLOODING PROBLEMS. DRY AIR SHUD BE SLOW TO MOVE EAST INTO PHL ZONES. WUD KEEP CLOUDY SHOWERY CONDITIONS OVER ERN ZONES THRU AT LEAST A FRI AM HOURS... POSSIBLY EVEN MOST OF DAY OVER LOWER SUSQ. LA CORTE
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 8, 3:35 PM EDT, 2 hours 38 minutes before
PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>026-033>035-037-041-045-090200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 328 PM EDT THU AUG 8 1996 A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNITL 10 PM FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA: WARREN MCKEAN ELK CLINTON CAMERON CENTRE CLEARFIELD LYCOMING SULLIVAN TIOGA BEDFORD BLAIR CAMBRIA HUNTINGDON SOMERSET POTTER AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT AND THE FLOW OF WARM MOIST AIR AHEAD OF THIS FRONT WILL PRODUCE THUNDERSTORMS OVER MOST OF PENNSYLVANIA THIS EVENING AND EARLY TONIGHT. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS...HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. STAY TUNED TO THE WEATHER CHANNEL...NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE TV OR RADIO STATION FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS. GRUMM
Special weather statement, Aug 8, 5:59 PM EDT, 14 minutes before
PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>026-033>035-037-041-045-090200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 600 PM EDT THU AUG 8 1996 A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA: SOUTHERN CLINTON CENTRE CLEARFIELD SOUTHERN LYCOMING BEDFORD BLAIR CAMBRIA HUNTINGDON SOMERSET THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: NORTHERN CLINTON MCKEAN POTTER NORTHERN LYCOMING ELK CAMERON TIOGA WARREN SULLIVAN AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT AND THE FLOW OF WARM MOIST AIR AHEAD OF THIS FRONT WILL PRODUCE THUNDERSTORMS OVER MOST OF PENNSYLVANIA THIS EVENING AND EARLY TONIGHT. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS...HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. STAY TUNED TO THE WEATHER CHANNEL...NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE TV OR RADIO STATION FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS. WIDENOR/NICOSIA
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 8, 12:54 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Potter | 66 min |
| Aug 8, 1:57 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Warren | 63 min |
| Aug 8, 2:01 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Warren | 4 hr |
| Aug 8, 2:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Elk, McKean | 60 min |
| Aug 8, 4:16 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Centre, Clearfield | 59 min |
| Aug 8, 5:01 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Blair, Clearfield | 3 hr |
| Aug 8, 5:16 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Somerset | 59 min |
| Aug 8, 5:58 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Blair, Cambria | 62 min |
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.