Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 6, NWS State College, PA

May 25, 19974 counties in Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at May 25, 1997, 2:28 PM EDT for 4 counties in Pennsylvania. It was in force for 7 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
May 25, 1997, 2:28 PM EDT (18:28 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1997, 9:30 PM EDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bedford County, PA, Blair County, PA, Cambria County, PA, Somerset County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:27 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 125 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 1997-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 114 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1997-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 15 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
114 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
502 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
112 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 251831
FFWCTP
PAC009-013-021-111-260130-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
228 PM EDT SUN MAY 25 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...S...
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...NORTHERN BEDFORD COUNTY...SOUTHERN BLAIR COUNTY
   ...CAMBRIA COUNTY...SOMERSET COUNTY
 
RAINFALL IN MANY AREAS HAS EXCEEDED 2 INCHES.  POOR DRAINAGE AND
BASEMENT FLOODING IS LIKELY.
 
IN ADDITION...AREA SMALL STREAMS ARE NEAR BANKFULL IN SOME SPOTS.
 
ADDITIONAL SPOTTY HEAVY SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE INTO MID EVENING
...THUS SMALL STREAM FLOODING IS LIKELY TO RESULT AS WELL.
 
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.
 
MARTIN
 *

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 May 25, 12:10 PM EDT, 2 hours 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 25, 12:10 PM EDT, 2 hours 18 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1205 PM EDT SUN MAY 25 1997

WARM FRONT SLOW TO MOVE N...CLDS ARE THINNING NOW AND THEN
OUTSIDE...AND HEAVIER PCPN OVER AREA MORE SPOTTY NOW...AS BEST
INFLOW SLOWLY SHIFTS E.

OUR CWA IN FAIRLY GOOD SHAPE.  ONLY TOUCHY AREA IS
HIGHLANDS...WHICH HAVE HAD SEVERAL IFLOWS REPORTS OVER 2 INCHES
NOW.  WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR SAT/RADAR/IFLOWS ETC.

EXPECT BY LATER THIS E7VENING THAT MOST OF THE SHOWERS WILL BE E
AND S OF AREA.  SOME MAY LINGER ALONG MD/PA BORDER OVERNIGHT.

MAY NOT CLEAR REAL GOOD S PA ON MONDAY...BUT THINK IT WILL BE
DRY...SO AT LEAST ONE CAN BE OUTSIDE.  COOLER TEMPS TO FOLLOW.

MARTIN

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.