Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 33, NWS State College, PA

November 7, 1997Blair County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Nov 7, 1997, 12:48 PM EST for Blair 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
Nov 7, 1997, 12:48 PM EST (17:48 UTC)
Expired
Nov 7, 1997, 6:45 PM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Blair County, PA

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 148 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1997-11-07Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1997-11-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 56 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
505 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
56 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
133 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 KCTP 071748
FFWCTP
PAC013-072345-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1248 PM EST FRI NOV 7 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...BLAIR COUNTY
 
STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUES TO SHOW HEAVY RAIN TRACKING OVER
THE AREA. RADAR ESTIMATES THAT MORE THAN 2 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN AND
REPORTS FROM EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS INDICATE STREAMS ARE RUNNING
NEAR BANK FULL.
 
ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN WILL LAST INTO THE EVENING HOURS WITH
FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS EXPECTED.
 
DO NOT DRIVvE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
LA CORTE
 
&

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 Nov 7, 9:25 AM EST, 3 hours 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 7, 9:25 AM EST, 3 hours 23 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
925 AM EST FRI NOV 7 1997

...ZONE SUGGESTIONS...

.PIT...WUD LOWER LAUREL HIGHLAND TEMPS TO UPPER 30S TODAY. WUD ALSO
LEAVE OUT TIMING AND JUST MENTION RAIN HEAVY AT TIMES...EVEN FAR NW
WHERE HOURLY PRECIP PLOTS INDICATE MORE THAN AN INCH THRU EVENING.

.PHL...NO SIG CHANGES TO SUGGEST.

...DISCUSSION...

RADAR SHOWS SIG PRECIP TRUCKING UP INTO LAUREL HIGHLANDS... WITH
EVEN SOME SNOW REPORTED OVER HIGHER ELEVATIONS. SATELLITE SHOWS
BLOSSOMING ENHANCEMENT SPIRALING UP FROM MID ATL REGION. DEEP
EASTERLY FLOW INDICATED ON VWP AND MODEL OUTPUT. ALL THESE POINT TO
A RAINY END OF THE WEEK AND POSSIBLY EVEN WELL INTO THE WEEKEND.

BIGGEST DIFFERENCE TODAY AS COMPARED TO YESTERDAY IS MODEL IDEA OF
BEING MORE GENEROUS WITH DEEPER FRONTOGENESIS ASSOC WITH EASTERLY
LL JET AND RETREATING UL JET ENTRANCE REGION OVER NERN US. AS A
RESULT...1ST PERIOD LOOKS LIKE A NO BRAINER. FIRST SURFACE WAVE IS
JUST EAST OF HAT AT 12Z...A LITTLE SLOWER THAN THE ETA. MODELS
CONTINUE THE IDEA OF DEEP EASTERLY FLOW THROUGH 24HRS. BEST WARM
ADVECTION IS YET TO COME AS LOW LEVEL EASTERLY JET INCHES NORTH
TODAY. MAX WARM ADVECTION AND FRONTOGENETIC FORCING LOOK TO BE
CENTERED ON REGION LATER THIS AFTN ASSOC WITH LIFTING LL ISOTACH
MAX. A COLD RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES LOOKS LIKE THE FCST FOR TODAY.

UPPER LOW CONTINUES NORTHEAST IN TIME WITH MODELS EVEN HINTING AT
ANOTHER OFFSHORE DEVELOPMENT LATER IN FCST PERIOD AND HAVING IT
SWING WESTWARD BACK INTO PA. THIS SHUD ASSURE KEEPING PRECIP IN THE
FCST AS ANY NUMBER OF SHORTWAVES SPOKE UP AROUND DEEP UPPER LOW AS
IT HEADS OUR WAY. FIRST SIGN OF IMPROVEMENT LOOKS TO BE LATER
SUNDAY. IF AVN CAN BE TRUSTED...SUN WILL START OFF BLEAK BUT
IMPROVE AS THE DAY WEARS ON AND NW FLOW DEVELOPS BEHIND LO AND
STARTS DRYING US OUT.

LA CORTE

The office that day

Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 7, 11:53 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPBedford6 hr
Nov 7, 12:23 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPCambria6 hr
Nov 7, 2:12 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPSomerset6 hr
Nov 7, 4:50 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPBedford, Blair, Cambria, Clearfield, Somerset5 hr
Nov 7, 4:50 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPFranklin, Fulton, Huntingdon5 hr
Nov 7, 4:50 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPElk5 hr
Nov 7, 5:39 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPAdams, Cumberland4 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.