Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 247, NWS State College, PA

December 13, 1996Columbia County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Dec 13, 1996, 11:49 PM EST for Columbia 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, 11:49 PM EST (04:49 UTC)
Expired
Dec 14, 1996, 6:00 AM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Columbia County, PA

The radar

The Binghamton radar (KBGM), 133 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:52 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, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 248 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 1996-12-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 1996-12-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -73 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
508 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-73 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-80 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 140454
FFWCTP
PAC037-071-075-133-141100-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1149 PM EST FRI DEC 13 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS EXTENDED THE
FLOOD WARNING FOR SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS UNTIL 600 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...COLUMBIA COUNTY...LANCASTER COUNTY...LEBANON COUNTY
   ...YORK COUNTY
 
AREA STREAMS AND CREEKS CONTINUE TO RUN HIGH...WITH SEVERAL OVERFLOWING
THEIR BANKS. COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS REPORT SEVEREL ROADS
STILL CLOSED DUE TO FLOODING IN THESE COUNTIES.
 
RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO TAPER OFF OVERNIGHT...AND MOST SMALL STREAMS AND
CREEKS WILL RETURN TO THIER BANKS BY MORNING.
 
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.
 
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, 8:52 PM EST, 2 hours 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 13, 8:52 PM EST, 2 hours 57 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
845 PM EST FRI DEC 13 1996

RADAR LOOP HAS SHOWN A RAPID DECREASE IN INTENSITY OVER THE PAST
FEW HOURS ACROSS THE SUSQUEHANNA BASIN COUNTIES.  LATEST PICTURES
SHOW LESS THAN 30 DBZ ECHOES ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION.  BACK EDGE
OF THE RAIN HAS ALSO MADE A LITTLE FASTER PROGRESS EAST OVER THE
LAST FEW HOURS.  SATELLITE SHOWS ENHANCEMENT OF COLDEST CLOUD
TOPS SHOWED A MARKED SHIFT TO NJ BETWEEN 4 AND 6 PM.  CLOUD TOPS
CONTINUE TO WARM OVER THE REGION ATTM.

COORD WITH PIT AND PHL ALREADY.  AGREE WITH PIT TO DROP FLOOD
WATCHES FROM THE EVENING PACKAGE.  ALSO AGREE WITH PHL TO DROP
FLOOD WATCHES FOR MOST COUNTIES EXCEPT EASTERN FRINGE.  MAY HAVE
TO EXTEND A FEW MORE FFWS AT THE 915 EXPIRE TIME...BUT NO RENEWED
FLOODING IS EXPECTED...SO IDEA OF CONTINUING FLOOD WATCHES SEEMS
A LITTLE OUT OF LINE.  UPDATED FLOOD WARNINGS WILL ONLY COVER
EXISTING AND RECEDING FLOODING.

AS FOR SNOW...CHANGEOVER HAS OCCURRED ACROSS NE LYCOMING...
SULLIVAN... COLUMBIA AND SCHUYLKILL.  ONE INCH ACCUM OVER
SULLIVAN WAS THE HIGHEST REPORT I COULD FIND.  WITH PCPN
DIMINISHING IN INTENSITY...THINK ACCUMS SHOULD BE BELOW THE 4
INCH ADVISORY CRITERIA.

LAKE SNOW OUTLOOK

7 AM FRI TO 7 PM FRI...N
7 PM FRI TO 7 AM SAT...N
7 AM FRI TO 7 PM FRI...N

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 13, 7:59 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPLancaster, Lebanon4 hr
Dec 13, 9:14 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPColumbia, Sullivan3 hr
Dec 13, 9:14 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPSchuylkill3 hr
Dec 13, 9:14 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPYork3 hr
Dec 13, 11:49 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPLancaster, Lebanon, York6 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.