Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996
Flash Flood Warning 185, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Oct 19, 1996, 2:58 AM EDT for Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 4 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
- Oct 19, 1996, 2:58 AM EDT (06:58 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 19, 1996, 7:00 AM EDT
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lancaster County, PA
The radar
The Dover AFB radar (KDOX), 152 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:01 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
Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 157 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
- 466 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 499 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 120 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 200 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 2.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCTP 190701 FFWCTP PAC071-191100- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 258 AM EDT SAT OCT 19 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A FLOOD WARNING FOR SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS AS WELL AS POOR DRAINAGE AREAS EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN PENNSYLVANIA ...LANCASTER COUNTY EARLY THIS SATURDAY MORNING... DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR CONTINUES TO SHOW RAIN... OCCASIONALLY HEAVY... MOVING ACROSS LANCASTER COUNTY. COUNTY EMA OFFICIALS REPORT SEVERAL ROADS CLOSED. MAY POST OFFICE ROAD AT HILLTOP ROAD IN STRASBURG TOWNSHIP IS CLOSED DUE TO WATER FROM A NEARBY CREEK OVERFLOWING ITS BANKS. SHARP RISES HAVE ALSO BEEN NOTED ON OTHER AREA STREAMS AND CREEKS IN THE COUNTY... AND ADDITIONAL FLOODING IS LIKELY OVERNIGHT. BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF FLOODS. IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED...ACHT QUICKLY. MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING. JUNG &
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 Oct 18, 7:47 PM EDT, 7 hours 11 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Oct 18, 7:47 PM EDT, 7 hours 11 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 745 PM EDT FRI OCT 18 1996 ...CURRENT ZNS OK FOR NOW... ...DISC. SIT. WITH SPC. STILL GETTING A FEW REPORTS OF DAMAGE OVER C PA...BUT ACTIVITY LOOKS LIKE IT STILL WEAKENING. MOST REPORTS AND ESTIMATES BETWEEN 40 AND 45 MPH...FEW NEAR 49 MPH. BAND OF HEAVY RAIN STILL MOVING EAST...SECOND BATCH OF RAIN WEST OF CTP...BUT WHILE SOME HEAVY RAIN WITH THIS WESTERN BAND...THIS BAND IS IN THE COLD AIR...AND PATTERN OF DBZ AROUND RDA INDICATES THAT SOME BRIGHT BANDING IS OCCURRING. DISC. SIT. WITH MARFC. CURRENT FLOOD WATCH IS OK...THINK HIGHEST THREAT OF SIG. RAIN WILL BE FROM NE PA N AND E...BUT STILL TOO CLOSE TO CALL YET. THEREFORE CURRENT WATCH/ZNS OK FOR NOW...PIT/PHL CALL IF YOU THINK SIG CHANGES ARE NEEDED. MARTIN
In the hours before
Local storm report, Oct 18, 10:19 PM EDT, 4 hours 39 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1015 PM EDT FRI OCT 19 1996
TIME(EDT) ...CITY LOCATION..........ST ...EVENT/REMARKS
...COUNTY LOCATION........
0530 PM BEDFORD PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 BEDFORD TREES AND POWER LINES
DOWN RTE 220/30
0545 PM JOHNSTOWN PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 CAMBRIA TREES DOWN JUST EAST
OF JST
0645 PM STATE COLLEGE PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 CENTRE TREE LIMBS DOWN
0650 PM CROMWELL PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 HUNTINGDON TREES DOWN
0700 PM MIFFLINTOWN PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 JUNIATA TREES DOWN MUDDY RUN
ROAD AND RTE 35
0700 PM AMBERSON TWP PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 FRANKLIN TREES DOWN ON AMBERSON
MTN
0704 PM ALEXANDRIA PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 HUNTINGDON TREES DOWN
0710 PM LEWISTOWN PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 MIFFLIN TREES AND POWERLINES
DOWN LEWISTOWN
0715 PM RENOVO PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 CLINTON TREES DOWN
0715 PM LOCKHAVEN PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 CLINTON TREES DOWN
0730 PM HOPEWELL PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 CUMBERLAND TREES DOWN
0735 PM GETTYSBURG PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 ADAMS TREES AND POWERLINES
DOWN MOMETSBURG RD
0740 PM HAMPTON PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 CUMBERLAND TREES DOWN
0745 PM SHIPENSBURG PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 CUMBERLAND TREES DOWN
0800 PM NEW BLOOMSBURG PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 PERRY TREES DOWN
0830 PM SELINSGROVE PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 SNYDER TREES DOWN
"
0830 PM MC CLURE PA WIND DAMAGE
10/18/96 SNYDER TREES DOWNThe office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 19, 6:20 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Schuylkill | 6 hr |
| Oct 19, 6:51 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Lancaster | 5 hr |
| Oct 19, 10:51 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Franklin, Huntingdon | 4 hr |
| Oct 19, 12:25 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Schuylkill | 6 hr |
| Oct 19, 2:48 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Huntingdon | 6 hr |
| Oct 19, 6:50 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Schuylkill | 3 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.