Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996
Flash Flood Warning 239, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Dec 13, 1996, 5:54 PM EST for Adams County, York 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
- Dec 13, 1996, 5:54 PM EST (22:54 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 13, 1996, 9:15 PM EST
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Adams County, PA, York County, PA
The radar
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:53 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, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 88 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCTP 132258 FFWCTP PAC001-041-043-081-093-097-099-109-113-119-133-140215- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 554 PM EST FRI DEC 13 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS EXTENDED THE FLOOD WARNING FOR SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS UNTIL 915 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN PENNSYLVANIA ...ADAMS COUNTY...CUMBERLAND COUNTY...DAUPHIN COUNTY ...LYCOMING COUNTY...MONTOUR COUNTY...NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY ...PERRY COUNTY...SNYDER COUNTY...SULLIVAN COUNTY...UNION COUNTY ...YORK COUNTY STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWS LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN COVERING MUCH OF THE MIDDLE AND LOWER SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY THIS EVENING. THE RAIN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH 9 PM. THIS ADDITIONAL RAINFALL...COMBINED WITH EARLIER RAIN TODAY...WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE MANY SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS TO RISE. ROAD CLOSEURES DUE TO FLOODING ARE BEING REPORTED IN NEARLY ALL COUNTIES AT 530 PM. SOME OF THE ROAD CLOSURES ARE DUE TO SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS OVERFLOWING THEIR BANKS...WHILE OTHER ROADS ARE CLOSED DUE TO BLOCKED STORM DRAINS. BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF FLOODS. IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED...ACT 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 Dec 13, 2:54 PM EST, 3 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 13, 2:54 PM EST, 3 hours 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 13, 11:56 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry | 6 hr |
| Dec 13, 11:56 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Adams, York | 6 hr |
| Dec 13, 12:17 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Juniata, Northumberland, Snyder, Union | 6 hr |
| Dec 13, 12:17 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Montour | 6 hr |
| Dec 13, 12:39 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Lycoming, Sullivan | 5 hr |
| Dec 13, 1:15 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Huntingdon | 6 hr |
| Dec 13, 2:23 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Lancaster, Lebanon | 6 hr |
| Dec 13, 3:09 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Columbia, Schuylkill | 6 hr |
| Dec 13, 5:54 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Cumberland, Dauphin, Northumberland, Perry, Snyder | 3 hr |
| Dec 13, 5:54 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Lycoming, Union | 3 hr |
| Dec 13, 5:54 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Sullivan | 3 hr |
| Dec 13, 5:54 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Montour | 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.