Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 236, NWS State College, PA

December 13, 1996Columbia County, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Dec 13, 1996, 3:09 PM EST for Columbia County, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 6 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 13, 1996, 3:09 PM EST (20:09 UTC)
Expired
Dec 13, 1996, 9:15 PM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Columbia County, PA, Schuylkill County, PA

The nearest sounding before it

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 158 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 1996-12-13Temperature 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 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 1996-12-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 189 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
519 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
189 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
199 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 KCTP 132015
FFWCTP
PAC037-107-140215-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
309 PM EST FRI DEC 13 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING FOR SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS EFFECTIVE UNTIL
915 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...COLUMBIA COUNTY...SCHUYLKILL COUNTY
 
STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUES TO SHOW A BAND OF MODERATE TO
HEAVY RAIN ACROSS THE SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY. THE HEAVIEST RAINS HAVE
OCCURRED OVER WESTERN PORTIONS OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY AND MUCH OF COLUMBIA
COUNTY THIS AFTERNOON. HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED TO SLIDE SLOWLY EAST AND
CONTINUE INTO THIS EVENING. AS A RESULT...SMALL STREAMS
AND CREEKS WILL LIKELY OVERFLOW THEIR BANKS.
 
IN SCHUYLKILL COUNTY...THE PINE GROVE AND CUMBOLA AREA WAS REPORTING
LOW-LYING FLOODING.  IN COLUMBIA COUNTY...2.5 INCHES OF RAIN HAS
FALLEN IN BLOOMSBURG AS OF MID-AFTERNOON.
 
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.
 
WINTHER/BUDD
 
 
&

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 Dec 13, 2:54 PM EST, 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 13, 2:54 PM EST, 15 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTION TO FFS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
250 PM EST FRI DEC 13 1996

PIT...KEEP FFA FOR MIFFLIN...JUNIATA...S CENTRE AND CLINTON CNTY
UNTIL 10 PM TONIGHT.

PHL...KEEP FFA GOING TONIGHT FOR CTP'S CWA THRU SATURDAY MORNING.

BND OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES TO TRAIN NORTHWARD ACROSS
SUS VALLEY. SHRTWV WITH NICE COMMA SHAPE LOW PRESENTLY OVER NC/VA
WILL ROTATE NORTH OVER THE NEXT 12 HRS. UNTIL THIS WAVE CAN SWEEP
PRECIP NE OF FCST/A EXPECT RAIN...HVY AT TIMES TO CONTINUE ACROSS
THE SUS VALLEY. TIMING END OF PRECIP...ARND 00Z FOR MIFFLIN AND
JUNIATA AND BTWEEN 03-06Z FOR THE SUS VALLEY.

WEAK HIGH MOVES INTO STATE ON SATURDAY NBEFORE NXT SYS APPROACHES
SUNDAY. BUSY WITH WARNING GOT TO RUN.....

 ...LAKE SNOW OUTLOOK...
FRI 7 PM TO SAT 7AM...N...
SAT 7AM TO SAT 7PM...N...
SAT 7PM TO SUN 7AM...N...
WINTHER

The office that day

Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 13, 11:56 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPCumberland, Dauphin, Perry6 hr
Dec 13, 11:56 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPAdams, York6 hr
Dec 13, 12:17 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPJuniata, Northumberland, Snyder, Union6 hr
Dec 13, 12:17 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPMontour6 hr
Dec 13, 12:39 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPLycoming, Sullivan5 hr
Dec 13, 1:15 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPHuntingdon6 hr
Dec 13, 2:23 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPLancaster, Lebanon6 hr
Dec 13, 5:54 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPCumberland, Dauphin, Northumberland, Perry, Snyder3 hr
Dec 13, 5:54 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPLycoming, Union3 hr
Dec 13, 5:54 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPAdams, York3 hr
Dec 13, 5:54 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPSullivan3 hr
Dec 13, 5:54 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPMontour3 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.