Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 7, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

January 19, 1996Venango County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at Jan 19, 1996, 2:00 AM EST for Venango 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
Jan 19, 1996, 2:00 AM EST (07:00 UTC)
Expired
Jan 19, 1996, 8:00 AM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Venango County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:01 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 00:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 114 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 00:00Z on 1996-01-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1996-01-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 682 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
972 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
682 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
1061 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 KPIT 190659
FFWPIT
PAC121-191300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
200 AM EST FRI JAN 19 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 AM EST
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...VENANGO COUNTY
 
A ONE MILE ICE JAM REMAINS IN PLACE FROM THE MOUTH OF OIL CREEK AT THE
ALLEGHENY RIVER UPSTREAM ALONG OIL CREEK TOWARD ROUSEVILLE. ROUTE 8 NEAR
ROUSEVILLE HAS BEEN CLOSED DUE TO HIGH WATER. ANOTHER ICE JAM IS IN PLACFROM PETROLEUM CENTER THROUGH PIONEER. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL DURING THE EA
YMORNING HOURS MAY INCREASE THE FLOODING PROBLEMS ALONG OIL CREEK.
 
BE CAREFUL AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGER OF
FLOODS.  IF YOU GET ANY INDICATION THAT FLOODS ARE
APPROACHING...QUICKLY  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO NOT STAY
IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
 
DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS.
 
DAVIS/DRZAL/REED/REHAK

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.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 18, 11:39 PM EST, 2 hours 21 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  PITTSBURGH PA
1135PM EST THU JAN 18 1996

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

800 PM     LATROBE                   PA   WIND DAMAGE
01/18/96   WESTMORELAND                   65-70 MPH WIND/TREE DAMAGE

820 PM     NEW STANTON               PA   WIND DAMAGE
01/18/96   WESTMORELAND                   ROOF BLOWN OFF BUSINESS
                                          POWER LINES DOWN.

825 PM     ROSTRAVER                 PA   WIND DAMAGE
01/18/96   WESTMORELAND                   TREES DOWN

830 PM     UNIONTOWN                 PA   WIND DAMAGE
01/18/96   FAYETTE                        TREES DOWN.

840 PM     CONNELLSVILLE             PA   WIND DAMAGE
01/18/96   FAYETTE                        TREES/POWER LINES DOWN

845 PM     SEVEN SPRINGS             PA   WIND DAMAGE
01/18/96   SOMERSET                       TREES DOWN.

1115 PM    EVERSON                   PA   WIND DAMAGE
01/18/96   FAYETTE                        TREES BLOWN DOWN
                                          SIDING BLOWN OFF HOUSE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 18, 7:17 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZVenango7 hr
Jan 18, 10:42 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZLawrence6 hr
Jan 19, 4:58 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZFayette, Washington, Westmoreland6 hr
Jan 19, 4:58 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZAllegheny, Beaver6 hr
Jan 19, 5:11 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZArmstrong, Butler, Clarion, Forest, Jefferson, Venango6 hr
Jan 19, 5:11 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZIndiana6 hr
Jan 19, 5:11 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZLawrence, Mercer6 hr
Jan 19, 6:53 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZVenango4 hr
Jan 19, 10:02 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZBeaver, Butler6 hr
Jan 19, 10:10 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZIndiana, Westmoreland6 hr
Jan 19, 10:10 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZFayette6 hr
Jan 19, 10:22 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZClarion, Forest, Indiana, Jefferson6 hr
Jan 19, 10:40 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZAllegheny, Greene, Washington5 hr
Jan 19, 10:43 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZLawrence, Mercer, Venango5 hr
Jan 19, 3:58 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZArmstrong, Butler, Fayette, Indiana, Westmoreland6 hr
Jan 19, 3:58 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZBeaver, Lawrence6 hr
Jan 19, 3:58 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZClarion, Forest, Jefferson6 hr
Jan 19, 3:58 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZVenango6 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.