Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 18, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

April 2, 1996Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this flash flood warning at Apr 2, 1996, 12:35 AM EST for Lehigh 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
Apr 2, 1996, 12:35 AM EST (05:35 UTC)
Expired
Apr 2, 1996, 5:00 AM EST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Whole counties

County Lehigh County, PA

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:35 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

Brookhaven, NY (KOKX), launched 00:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 231 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, Brookhaven, NY at 00:00Z on 1996-04-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 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, Brookhaven, NY at 00:00Z on 1996-04-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 155 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
582 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
155 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
178 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 KPHL 020538
FFWPHL
PAC077-021000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ
1235 AM EST TUE APR 2 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A FLOOD
WARNING UNTIL 500 AM FOR...

LEHIGH COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA.

AT 1230 AM...EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED THAT FLOODING
WAS BEGINNING TO OCCUR ON CEDAR CREEK IN THE ALLENTOWN AREA.
RAINFALL TOTALS IN LEHIGH COUNTY HAVE GENERALLY RANGED FROM 1 TO
1 1/2 INCHES THIS EVENING.

THE RAIN IN EAST CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA WILL CONTINUE TO LESSEN IN
INTENSITY DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS...AND IT SHOULD COME TO AN END
BY ABOUT 3 OR 4 AM.  HOWEVER...AREA STREAMS AND CREEKS WILL CONTINUE
TO RISE...AND THERE MAY BE SOME ADDITIONAL MINOR FLOODING DURING THE
REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT.

REMEMBER...DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH FLOOD WATERS.  THE WATER
MAY BE DEEPER THAN YOU THINK.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...AND TO YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION AND
RADIO STATIONS...FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE FLOOD WARNING.

IOVINO

The office that day

Everything else NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 1, 8:21 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHIChester, Montgomery4 hr
Apr 1, 11:55 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningPHIChester, Montgomery7 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.