Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996
Flash Flood Warning 53, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Jun 12, 1996, 4:28 PM 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
- Jun 12, 1996, 4:28 PM EDT (20:28 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 12, 1996, 8:30 PM 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 20:29 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, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 65 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
- 801 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -10 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 635 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 60 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 77 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 1.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCTP 122029 FFWCTP PAC071-130030- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 428 PM EDT WED JUN 12 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...... IN PENNSYLVANIA ...LANCASTER COUNTY UP TO 2.8 INCHES OF RAIN WAS REPORTED IN LANCASTER COUNTY THIS AFTERNOON EAST OF LANCASTER BETWEEN STRASBURG AND GEORGETOWN. THE RAIN FELL IN LITTLE OVER 45 MINUTES BETWEEN 145 AND 230 PM. ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED TO MOVE NORTHEAST OUT OF MARYLAND LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AND RAPID FLOODING IS LIKELY. LATEST ONE HOUR RADAR ESTIMATES OF RAINFALL AS OF 430 PM WERE AROUND AN INCH ACROSS SOUTHERN YORK COUNTY. THAT RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO TRACK NORTHEAST INTO LANCASTER COUNTY INTO THE AREA HARD HIT BY THIS AFTERNOONS RAINS. 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. DUNHAM
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 Jun 12, 1:42 PM EDT, 2 hours 46 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 12, 1:42 PM EDT, 2 hours 46 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 145 PM EDT WED JUN 12 1996 HERE WE GO AGAIN? LATEST 88D LOOP SHOWING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BEGINNING TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE CWA. MOST OF THE ACTIVITY ATTM IS EAST OF UNV...BASICALLY OVER THE PHI COUNTIES IN OUR CWA. A DETAILED SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS WHAT COULD BE A WEAK BUBBLE HIGH OVER WESTERN PA ATTM. PERHAPS COINCIDENTALLY... SHOWERS AND STORMS ARE DEVELOPING EAST OF THE "HIGH" WITH NO ACTIVITY FROM BFD TO AOO. NO SATELLITE IMAGERY ON RAMSDIS OR INTERNET...HAD TO RELY ON MICROSWISS. THE LATEST VISIBLE LOOP SEEMS TO INDICATE A COMMA HEAD MOVING INTO WV ATTM. THIS CAN BE SEEN WITH SOME ORGANIZATION TO RAIN/SHOWERS OVER EASTERN WV ATTM. MODELS SEEM TO INDICATE THAT THIS SHORTWAVE WILL ROTATE NORTHEAST ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN PA. MOISTURE CONVERGENCE WOULD ALSO SUGGEST THAT CENTRAL AND EASTERN AREAS WOULD BE UNDER THE GUN FOR THE MOST ORGANIZED CONVECTION. WITH PCPL WATERS RUNNING 1 TO 1.25 INCHES ACROSS THE REGION...AND SLOW MOVEMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS...WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO BE WORRIED ABOUT FLOODING THIS EVENING...ESPECIALLY FOR SMALL STREAMS/CREEKS. PHL/PIT...ANY THOUGHTS OF FLOOD WATCHES FOR THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING? UPPER FLOW A LITTLE FASTER THAN YESTERDAY...SO WOULD EXPECT A LITTLE FASTER MOVEMENT ON THIS AFTERNOON/S STORMS. FFG WAS EXCEEDED YESTERDAY IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS. STILL HAVE CXURRENT FFW IN FRANKLIN COUNTY...AND WITH ANY ADDITIONAL RAIN...THIS MAY NEED TO BE EXTENDED. JUNG
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jun 12, 12:02 PM EDT, 4 hours 26 minutes before
PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>028-033>036-037-041-042-045-046- 049>053-056>059-063>066-130000- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR PENNSYLVANIA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 1150 AM EDT WED JUN 12 1996 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN KANSAS CITY INDICATES THAT THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. IN ADDITION TO THE POTENTAIL OF GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL...THE THUNDERSTORMSh HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS. SKYWARN SPOTTER NETWORKS MAY NEED TO BE ACTIVATED LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. JUNG
Special weather statement, Jun 12, 2:48 PM EDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before
PAZ041-042-046-049>053-056>059-063>066-130000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 245 PM EDT WED JUN 12 1996 ...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 PM FOR THE LOWER AND MIDDLE SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY OF PENNSYLVANIA... THE COUNTIES INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE: ADAMS... LEBANON... CUMBERLAND... PERRY... DAUPHIN... YORK... LANCASTER... SCHUYLKILL... COLUMBIA... NORTHUMBERLAND... UNION... LYCOMING... SNYDER... MONTOUR AND SULLIVAN. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING WIND AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. THE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY ALSO HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE TORRENTIAL RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE WEATHER IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS...WHICH MEAN SEVERE WEATHER IS OCCURRIN G OR IMMINENT. JUNG
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 11, 8:38 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Franklin | 3 hr |
| Jun 11, 9:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Franklin | 60 min |
| Jun 11, 10:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Adams, Cumberland | 65 min |
| Jun 11, 11:40 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Franklin | 5 hr |
| Jun 12, 5:00 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Franklin | 6 hr |
| Jun 12, 10:50 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Franklin | 5 hr |
| Jun 12, 1:56 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Lancaster | 64 min |
| Jun 12, 4:13 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Cumberland | 62 min |
| Jun 12, 4:39 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Lancaster | 66 min |
| Jun 12, 4:48 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Cumberland | 3 hr |
| Jun 12, 5:21 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Northumberland, Snyder | 69 min |
| Jun 12, 5:39 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Juniata, Mifflin | 66 min |
| Jun 12, 5:39 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Juniata, Mifflin | 66 min |
| Jun 12, 6:23 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Perry | 67 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.