Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 34, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Nov 7, 1997, 2:12 PM EST for Somerset 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, 2:12 PM EST (19:12 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 7, 1997, 8:15 PM EST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Somerset County, PA
The nearest sounding before it
Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 103 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCTP 071912 FFWCTP PAC111-080115- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 212 PM EST FRI NOV 7 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 815 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...... IN PENNSYLVANIA ...SOMERSET COUNTY STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUES TO SHOW THE AXIS OF HEAVY RAIN SHIFTING SLOWLY WEST INTO SOMERSET COUNTY. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS REPORT RAINFALL AMOUNTS BETWEEN 2 AND 4 INCHES WITH MANY STREAMS AND CREEKS NEARING BANK FULL. THE HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS WITH FLOODING EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG STREAMS...CREEKS AND OTHER POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. DO NOT DRIVE 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, 1:51 PM EST, 21 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Nov 7, 1:51 PM EST, 21 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 150 PM EST FRI NOV 7 1997 ...ZONE SUGGESTIONS... .PIT...GOOD CALL ON WATCH YEST...LOTS OF PRECIP YET TO COME SO WUD LEAVE PRETTY MUCH WELL ALONE. .PHL...GOOD CALL IN CONFINING R+ TO AREAS WEST OF YR CWA. WUD STICK WITH OCNL R-/L- INTO SUN AM AT LEAST. ...DISCUSSION... THE RAIN IS FALLING...THE WATCHES AND WARNINGS ARE FLYING. NOW TO FIGURE OUT WHEN IT WILL ALL WIND DOWN. ETA AND NGM CONTINUE TO SHOW STRONG DEEP EASTERLY FETCH AND RESULTING POTENT LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE ON THE NOSE OF THIS LLJ. BEST PRECIP SEEMS TO BE FALLING IN TERRAIN FAVORED UPSLOPE LOCATIONS ON THE FACE OF THE LAURELS WHERE NEARLY 3 INCHES HAS FALLEN IN SPOTS PROMPTING SEVERAL FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS. STERLING RADAR CONTINUES TO SHOW LONG TRAIN OF STRONG ECHOES FROM CHESAPEAKE BAY UP INTO CENTRAL MTNS. THIS IS ASSOCIATED WITH STRONG MOISTURE CONVERGENCE AXIS AS SEEN ON SFC ANAL AND PSU MESO DATA PAGE. SYNOPTIC ETA DEPICTS STRONG LOW LEVEL FRONTOGENESIS IN THIS REGION WHICH IT PIVOTS UP AND OVER CTRL PA THRU TONITE WHILE BEGINNING A WEAKENING TREND AFTER 00Z. THINK BEST PRECIP WILL START TO WANE AS LOW LEVEL WIND MAX PROPAGATES INLAND AND WE LOSE THE STRONG CONVERGENCE. THIS SHUD BEGIN TO TAKE PLACE AFTER 00Z WITH REAL WEAKENING SHOWING UP AFTER 06Z. WE DON'T GET OUT OF THE WOODS JUST YET AS UPPER LOW WILL STILL BE PRONE TO DRAGGING BACK ATLANTIC MOISTURE INTO CTRL PA. FOCUS OF BEST RAIN SHUD SHIFT NORTHWARD WHERE BEST INFLOW OFF OCEAN CONCENTRATES BUT ETA DUMB BELLS ANOTHER SFC WAVE BACK TWD PA COAST SAT NITE-SUN MORNING. THE FRONTOGENESIS SHOWN ON THE NW QUAD OF THIS SYSTEM MAY FORCE SLUG OF MORE ENHXANCED PRECIP BACK INTO ERN SECTIONS LATER SAT AND EARLY SUN. LA CORTE
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 7, 11:53 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Bedford | 6 hr |
| Nov 7, 12:23 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Cambria | 6 hr |
| Nov 7, 12:48 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Blair | 6 hr |
| Nov 7, 4:50 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Clearfield, Somerset | 5 hr |
| Nov 7, 4:50 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon | 5 hr |
| Nov 7, 4:50 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Elk | 5 hr |
| Nov 7, 5:39 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Adams, Cumberland | 4 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.