Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 26, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

April 16, 1996Bucks County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this flash flood warning at Apr 16, 1996, 1:14 PM EDT for Bucks 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
Apr 16, 1996, 1:14 PM EDT (17:14 UTC)
Expired
Apr 16, 1996, 4:15 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Whole counties

County Bucks County, PA

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:16 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 12:00Z, 5.2 hours before the alert went out and 198 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 12:00Z on 1996-04-16Temperature 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, Brookhaven, NY at 12:00Z on 1996-04-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 487 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
514 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
487 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
536 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 161717
FFWPHL
PAC017-162015-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ
114 PM EDT TUE APR 16 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...BUCKS COUNTY
 
AT 110 PM...RIVER GAGE READING AT LANGHORNE WAS READING 8.44 FEET
AND RISING. FLOOD STAGE IS 9.00 FEET. THE NESHAMINY SHOULD RISE
TO BETWEEN 9 AND 9 1/2 FEET OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS.
 
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH FLOODED AREAS.  THE DEPTH OF THE
WATER MAY BE HIGHER THAN YOU THINK.  RAPIDLY RISING WATERS CAN
QUICKLY ENGULF YOUR VEHICLE AND ITS OCCUPANTS...WASHING THEM AWAY.
REMEMBER...MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.
 
JWH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 16, 1:23 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHICarbon, Lehigh4 hr
Apr 16, 1:23 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIBerks, Chester4 hr
Apr 16, 3:15 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIMonroe6 hr
Apr 16, 4:15 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIMonroe6 hr
Apr 16, 5:32 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIChester, Delaware7 hr
Apr 16, 9:15 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIMonroe6 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.