Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 80, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

September 8, 1996Bucks County, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this flash flood warning at Sep 8, 1996, 6:23 PM EDT for Bucks County, Philadelphia 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
Sep 8, 1996, 6:23 PM EDT (22:23 UTC)
Expired
Sep 8, 1996, 8:30 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bucks County, PA, Philadelphia County, PA

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:22 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, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 206 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 1996-09-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 153 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 12:00Z on 1996-09-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 80 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
153 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
566 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
80 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
196 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPHL 082224
FFWPHL
PAC017-101-090030-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ
623 PM EDT SUN SEP 8 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...SOUTHERN BUCKS COUNTY...PHILADELPHIA COUNTY
 
AT 620 PM...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THAT WERE MOVING THROUGH SOUTHERN
BUCKS AND PHILADELPHIA COUNTIES WERE ALSO PRODUCING TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SEVERE FLOODING IN AREAS OF POOR DRAINAGE.
 
IF YOU ARE IN AN AREA PRONE TO FLOODING...MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND
IMMEDIATELY...BEFORE YOUR ACCESS IS CUT OFF BY RISING FLOOD WATERS.
CONTINUE TO MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO...AND YOUR LOCAL RADIO AND
TELEVISION STATIONS FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THE FLOOD WARNING.
 
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH FLOODED AREAS.  THE DEPTH OF THE
WATER MA.Y 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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 8, 6:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBucks, Delaware, Philadelphia44 min
Sep 8, 6:29 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIMontgomery2 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.