Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 56, NWS State College, PA

June 14, 1996Cambria County, Somerset County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Jun 14, 1996, 5:09 PM EDT for Cambria County, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 2 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 14, 1996, 5:09 PM EDT (21:09 UTC)
Expired
Jun 14, 1996, 7:15 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cambria County, PA, Somerset County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 106 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:08 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 106 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1996-06-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 278 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1996-06-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 69 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
278 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-98 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1068 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
69 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
83 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 142110
FFWCTP
PAC021-111-142315-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING FOR STREAMS AND CREEKS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
509 PM EDT FRI JUN 14 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...S...
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...SOUTHERN CAMBRIA COUNTY...NORTHERN SOMERSET COUNTY
 
AT 505 PM EDT... DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS NEARLY
STATIONARY OVER EXTREME SOUTHERN CAMBRIA COUNTY AND EXTREME NORTHERN
SOMERSET COUNTY. VERY HEAVY RAINFALL WAS OCCURRING IN THESE AREAS AND
LIKELY WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.
THE RAIN WILL TAPER OFF BY AROUND 6 PM.
 
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.

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 14, 2:24 PM EDT, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 14, 2:24 PM EDT, 2 hours 45 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
215 PM EDT FRI JUN 14 1996

JUST LIKE CLOCKWORK...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE
STARTING TO FIRE ACROSS CENTRAL PA BETWEEN 17Z AND 18Z...JUST
LIKE THE LAST 4 DAYS.  MODIFIED PIT SOUNDINGS EVEN A LITTLE MORE
UNSTABLE THAN EARLY MORNING SOUNDING MODIFICATION...WITH LI/S
AROUND -7 AND CAPES IN THE LOW 3000S.  MOS DEWPOINTS LOOK TO BE
AT LEAST 5 DEGREES TOO LOW FOR SOME SPOTS...ACCOUNTING FOR THE
HIER INSTABILITIES.

COLD FRONT IS REALLY TAKING IT/S TIME MOVING INTO THE AREA.  THIS
HAS ALLOWED THE SAME AIRMASS REGIME TO REMAIN OVER THE AREA ALL
DAY TODAY.  CLOUDS HAVE BEEN SPARSE...ALLOWING FOR WARMER TEMPS
THIS AFTERNOON THAN YSTDY.

ACTIVITY IS BEST ORGANIZED OVER NE COUNTIES...IN THE VCNTY OF A
WEAK SPOKE OF UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE ENERGY.  BACK OVER CENTRAL
AND WESTERN SECTIONS...CONVECTION IS AGAIN PRETTY RANDOM.
SURFACE MOISTURE CONV CHARTS SHOW BULLSEYE OVER CENTRAL PA AT
18Z...SINKING SOUTH ACROSS SOUTHERN PA BY 00Z.

FRONT WILL CROSS THE AREA OVERNIGHT...THEN ATMOSPHERE SLOWLY
STABILIZES.  GRIDDED DATA SUGGESTS LITTLE IN THE WAY OF CLOUDS
SATURDAY...EXCEPT MAYBE ACROSS SOUTHERN 1/p3 OF STATE.

WILL WRAP THIS UP...AS THINGS HEAT UP HERE AT THE NWSO...

JUNG

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 14, 3:08 PM EDT, 2 hours 1 minute before
PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>028-033>037-041-042-045-046-049>053-
056>059-063>066-150100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
300 PM EDT FRI JUN 14 1996

...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH FOR ALL OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA AND THE SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY
UNTIL 900 PM...

THE COUNTIES INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE:

IN THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS:

WARREN... MCKEAN... POTTER... ELK AND CAMERON.

IN THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS:

CLEARFIELD... CENTRE AND CLINTON.

IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND LAUREL HIGHLANDS:

CAMBRIA... SOMERSET... BEDFORD... BLAIR... FULTON... HUNTINGDON...
MIFFLIN... JUNIATA AND FRANKLIN.

IN THE MIDDLE SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY:

TIOGA... LYCOMING... SULLIVAN... UNION... SNYDER... COLUMBIA...
NORTHUMBERLAND AND MONTOUR.

IN THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY:

PERRY... CUMBERLAND... ADAMS... DAUPHIN... LEBANON... SCHUYLKILL...
YORK AND LANCASTER.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL ARE ALL POSSIBLE
THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.  REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE WEATHER IN AND NEAR
THE WATCH AREA.  STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

JUNG
Local storm report, Jun 14, 4:18 PM EDT, 51 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
417 PM EDT FRI JUN 14 1996

TIME EDT   ...CITY LOCATION..........ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS
           ...COUNTY LOCATION........

0400 PM    WINDpBER                   PA   WIND DAMAGE
06/14/96   SOMERSET                       LINES DOWNED BY WINDS
                                          IN WINDBER

DUNHAM

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 14, 2:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCambria64 min
Jun 14, 3:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPSomerset59 min
Jun 14, 4:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBedford61 min
Jun 14, 4:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCambria, Somerset62 min
Jun 14, 4:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLycoming55 min
Jun 14, 5:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPFulton60 min
Jun 14, 5:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPColumbia66 min
Jun 14, 5:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPFranklin60 min
Jun 14, 5:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPTioga55 min
Jun 14, 6:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPAdams56 min
Jun 14, 6:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCentre55 min
Jun 14, 7:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPYork68 min
Jun 14, 7:11 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPCambria, Somerset109 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.