Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Jan 25, 1997, 1:26 AM EST for Lancaster 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 25, 1997, 1:26 AM EST (06:26 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 25, 1997, 7:30 AM EST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lancaster County, PA
The radar
The Dover AFB radar (KDOX), 152 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:26 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
Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 157 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 459 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 64 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 1037 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 1445 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCTP 250629 FFWCTP PAC071-251230- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 126 AM EST SAT JAN 25 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A FLOOD WARNING FOR SMALL STREAMS EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 AM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...... IN PENNSYLVANIA ...LANCASTER COUNTY AT 125 AM EST... STREAM GAUGES AT SMOKETOWN... MANHEIM AND MT JOY WERE RAPIDLY APPROACHING FLOOD STAGE. THE STREAM GAUGE AT MT JOY WAS OVER FLOOD STAGE. THE STREAMS WILL CONTINUE TO RISE DUE TO RUN-OFF FROM LAST EVENINGS RAIN... MELTED SNOW AND POTENTIAL ICE JAMS. AS A RESULT... EXPECT FLOODING OF SEVERAL OF THE SMALLER STREAMS AND CREEKS IN LANCASTER COUNTY EARLY THIS MORNING. FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS AND LOW-LYING ROADWAYS CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED. THE LANCASTER COUNTY EMA REPORTS ONE ROAD FLOODED AT IRONBRIDGE ROAD IN EAST EARL TOWNSHIP. BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IBS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF FLOODS. IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING... YOU MAY BECOME STRANDED. NICOSIA &
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.
NWS State College, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jan 24, 8:51 PM EST, 4 hours 35 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 24, 8:51 PM EST, 4 hours 35 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 850 PM EST FRI JAN 24 1997 ...WINTER STORM WARNING CAN BE DROPPED WITH NEXT FCST PKG... WELL... WE VERIFIED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR LAURELS AND SO MTNS BUT FOR THE WRONG REASON. SEE PHLPNSCTP FOR THE GORY DETAILS. SFC HI OVR ME AND CAN MRTMS IS ALWAYS TROUBLE EAST OF THE MTNS. ARCTIC BDRY STALLED JUST SOUTH OF M/D LINE LAST NITE MAY HAVE ADDED JUST ENUF VERTICAL MOTION TO MIX OUT WARM LAYERS AS THEY WERE ADVECTING IN. THIS LEAD TO LONGER PERIOD OF SNOW THAN EXPECTED WITH 6 INCH AMTS ACROSS BLAIR... BEDFORD... SOMERSET... POTTER AND CLEARFIELD COUNTIES. THIS WILL MAKE A GOOD CASE STUDY. TEMPS ARE WARMING ON SFC TO NEAR 32F AND EXPECT WRMG TO CONTINUE THRU THE NITE. PRECIP IS ENDING PER KCCX AND GROUND TRUTH. BRF CHANGEOVER TO IP THEN ZR/R BEFR ENDING. REST OF NITE SHD BE MOSTLY DRY. WITH TEMPS AOA FREEZING ANY SPOTTY PRECIP WUD NOT FREEZE TO TREATED ROADWAYS SO WORST TRAVEL CONDS BEHIND US. I AM CONCERNED WITH AREA OF CONVECTION OVR KY AND IN. WV IMAGERY FROM OUR SPORADIC RAMSDIS SHOWS MOVEMENT IN THIS DIR. WITH STRG SE FLOW ACRS FCST AREA EXPECT THIS TO BE RAIN SHRS WHEN OR IF IT ARRIVES AROUND DAYBRK. THERE IS VERY MILD AIR WEST OF MTNS OVR WV SO CONVECTION SHD SURVIVE TO PIT BUT PROB FALL APART AFTER THAT. QUESTION MARK IS 85H IS 0C BY 12Z SAT. HOW MUCH COLD AIR ALOFT GETS DRAGGED DOWN ONTO HIER TRRN OF LAURELS BY CONVECTION. LATEST MESO ETA SHWS KY PRECIP GETTING TO CPA ARND 9Z. IF THIS VERIFIES WUD BE RAIN EVEN IN LAURELS. ONCE THIS GOES BY SHD BE DRY TONGUE WITH SOME CLRG. WITH PASSAGE OF CFRNT CUD MIX DOWN SOME MILD AIR AND TEMPS CUD BE QUITE PLEASANT THRU EARLY PM. PROB LO 40S WITH PS SKIES. NOT ENUF TIME TO WORRY ABOUT LATER PDS. ANY QUESTIONS ETC...PLEASE CALL. ...LAKE SNOW OUTLOOK... 7 PM FRI TO 7 AM SAT...N 7 AM SAT TO 7 PM SAT...N 7 PM SAT TO 7 AM SUN...N PROB SOME LITE SNO SHRS HEAD
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jan 24, 10:03 PM EST, 3 hours 23 minutes before
PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>028-033>037-041-042-045- 046-049>053-056>059-063>066-250800- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...WINTER STORM WARNING/ADVISORY CANCELLATION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 1000 PM EST FRI JAN 25 1997 ...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELED THE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR ALL OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA INCLUDING THE MIDDLE AND UPPER SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY THIS EVENING... ...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ALSO CANCELED THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY AND SCHUYLKILL COUNTY THIS EVENING... ...EXPECTED WEATHER CONDITIONS... THE WINTERY MIX OF PRECIPITATION HAS ENDED ACROSS CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. TEMPERATURES WILL GRADUALLY CLIMB ABOVE FREEZING OVERNIGHT SO THAT ANY ADDITIONAL SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL FALL AS RAIN. A FEW VALLEY LOCATIONS ACROSS NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA WILL TAKE A LITTLE LONGER TO WARM SO ICY SPOTS WILL CONTINUE TO BE A PROBLEM IN THIS AREA THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. ...PRECAUTIONS... ANYONE PLANNING TO TRAVEL OVERNIGHT SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR SLIPPERY ROADS. LEAVE EXTRA TIME TO REACH YOUR DESTINATION. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...TV...CABLE TV OR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INTERNET SITES FOR LATER FORECASTS AND UPDATES. WINTHER
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 25, 7:25 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Lancaster | 5 hr |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 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.