Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 94, NWS State College, PA

June 20, 1996Adams County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Jun 20, 1996, 6:41 PM EDT for Adams 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
Jun 20, 1996, 6:41 PM EDT (22:41 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1996, 9:45 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Adams County, PA

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:42 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, 10.7 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 1996-06-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 193 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 1996-06-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 34 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
193 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-54 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
639 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KCTP 202241
FFWCTP
PAC001-210145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
641 PM EDT THU JUN 20 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...ADAMS COUNTY
 
DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER FRANKLIN AND
WESTERN ADAMS COUNTY. A REPORT OF 2.10 INHCES IN 1 HOUR WAS REPORTED
NEAR THE JUNCTION OF ROUTES 234 AND 30. RADAR SHOWED THESE STORMS MOVING
EAST TOWARD THE BIGLERSVILLE AND GETTYSBURG AREA. THEY SHOULD ARRIVE
AROUND 7 PM. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS LIKELY.
 
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.
GRUMM/NICOSIA

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 20, 2:40 PM EDT, 4 hours 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 20, 2:40 PM EDT, 4 hours 1 minute before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
240 PM EDT THU JUN 20 1996

RUNNING LATE ....

LL MOISTURE POOLING ACROSS S-CENTRAL PA/N VA. THIS WILL BE THE AREA
OF CONCERN OVER THE NEXT 3-4 HRS. ELSEWHERE TRW/RW SHOULD DIMINISH
ACROSS W PA SO NO NEED FOR FFA ACROSS W CWA WITH NEW PACKAGE.

COLD FRONT MOVES TO EAST COAST TONIGHT LEAVING DRY AIR IN ITS WAKE.
SKIES SHOULD BECOME PTLY CLDY/MO CLR LATE.

FRIDAY SHO*ULD BE DRY FOR THE MOST PART. APPROACHING MID LEVEL
SHRTWV MAY TRIGGER SOME TRW/RW ACROSS NW PA LATE IN THE DAY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 19, 9:04 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPHuntingdon6 hr
Jun 20, 6:37 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPWarren3 hr
Jun 20, 2:30 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPHuntingdon3 hr
Jun 20, 3:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClinton, Lycoming60 min
Jun 20, 3:48 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPClinton3 hr
Jun 20, 4:16 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPHuntingdon3 hr
Jun 20, 5:11 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPFranklin, Fulton3 hr
Jun 20, 5:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLycoming59 min
Jun 20, 5:46 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPUnion3 hr
Jun 20, 6:14 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPCentre3 hr
Jun 20, 7:33 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPHuntingdon3 hr
Jun 20, 7:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPDauphin, Perry67 min
Jun 20, 7:52 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPAdams, Franklin3 hr
Jun 20, 7:52 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPFulton3 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.