Alert archive / New York / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Buffalo, NY

February 19, 1997Erie County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this flash flood warning at Feb 19, 1997, 8:04 PM EST for Erie County, New York. 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
Feb 19, 1997, 8:04 PM EST (01:04 UTC)
Expired
Feb 20, 1997, 2:00 AM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Erie County, NY

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 21 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:04 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

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 20 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 00:00Z on 1997-02-20Temperature 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 00:00Z on 1997-02-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 14 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
551 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
76 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
94 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 KBUF 200105
FFWBUF
NYC029-200700-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
804 PM EST WED FEB 19 1997

 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLOOD WARNING FOR CAZENOVIA
CREEK IN ERIE COUNTY FROM WEST SENECA DOWNSTREAM INTO BUFFALO UNTIL 2
AM EST.

AN ICE JAM THAT HAS BEEN IN PLACE FOR THE LAST FEW WEEKS HAS CAUSED A
BACKUP OF WATER ON CAZENOVIA CREEK. SNOWMELT FROM TUESDAY AND
TODAY COMBINED WITH ABOUT A HALF INCH OF RAIN THIS AFTERNOON HAS LED TO
A RAPID RISE ON CAZENOVIA CREEK IN THE ORCHARD PARK ROAD RIDGE ROAD
AREA. THE LEVEL AS OF 750 PM WAS UP TO 12.28 FEET. FLOOD STAGE IS 10
FEET. IT HAS RISEN 3 FEET SINCE 2 PM. SO FAR IT IS JUST THREATENING LAND
AREAS FROM THE ORCHARD PARK/RIDGE ROAD AREA DOWNSTREAM TO CAZENOVIA
PARK BUT THE CREEK MAY RISE ANOTHER 2 FEET BY 2 AM. THE ICE JAM MAY
ALSO BREAK CAUSING RAPID RISES FURTHER DOWNSTREAM.

IF YOU LIVE ALONG THE AFFECTED AREAS OF CAZENOVIA CREEK YOU ARE ALREADY
AWARE OF THE PROBLEM. BE READY FOR FURTHER RISES THROUGH THE WEE HOURS
OF THE MORNING.

BY MORNING WE EXPECT AN IMPROVEMENT AS AS THE RUNOFF SLOWS DOWN.
SURFACE TEMPERATURES WILL ALSO GO BELOW FREEZING CUTTING OFF ANY
SNOWMELT.
 
PEOPzLE WITH INTERESTS NEAR CAZENOVIA CREEK SHOULD BE ALERT
FOR RISING WATER AND TAKE PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY.

SAGE

The office that day

Everything else NWS Buffalo, NY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 20, 12:26 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningBUFErie8 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in New York, 1997Every flash flood warning in 1997

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.