Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 20, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

May 19, 1997Marshall County, Ohio County, West Virginia; Washington County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at May 19, 1997, 6:40 PM EDT for Marshall County, Ohio County, West Virginia; Washington County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 3 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 19, 1997, 6:40 PM EDT (22:40 UTC)
Expired: May 19, 1997, 9:45 PM EDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Washington County, PA, Marshall County, WV, Ohio County, WV

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:43 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, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 53 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 10 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -92 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 626 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 77 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 140 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 KPIT 192240
FFWPIT
OHC013-121-PAC125-WVC051-069-200145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
640 PM EDT MON MAY 19 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL OHIO
 
   ...BELMONT COUNTY...NOBLE COUNTY
 
 
IN WEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...WASHINGTON COUNTY
 
 
IN THE WEST VIRGINIA PANHANDLE
 
   ...MARSHALL COUNTY...OHIO COUNTY
 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR CONTINUES TO SHOW STORMS WITH VERY HEAVY
DOWNPOURS OVER THE WARNED AREA. TORRENTIAL RAINFALL RATES OF AN INCH IN
AND HOUR WILL CAUSE FLOODING. STORMS ARE APPROACHING THE AREA FROM THE
WEST.
 
 
DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.  THE WATER
MAY BE TOO DEEP TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT
IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

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.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 19, 5:32 PM EDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
532 PM EDT MON MAY 19 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0527 PM    SEWICKLEY HEIGHTS         PA   WIND GUST 66 MPH.
05/19/97   ALLEGHENY

Local storm report, May 19, 5:33 PM EDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
532 PM EDT MON MAY 19 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0527 PM    SEWICKLEY HEIGHTS         PA   WIND GUST 66 MPH.
05/19/97   ALLEGHENY

Local storm report, May 19, 6:13 PM EDT, 27 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
613 PM EDT MON MAY 19 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0559 PM    NEW KENSINGTON            PA   WIND DAMAGE
05/19/97   WESTMORELAND                   NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES
                                          BLOWN DOWN.

0556 PM    MC CANDLESS TWP           PA   WIND DAMAGE
05/19/97   ALLEGHENY                      TREES DOWN SEVERAL LOCATIONS
                                          SUCH AS NORTH PARK.

0606 PM    OAKMONT                   PA   0.75 INCH HAIL
05/19/97   ALLEGHENY

Local storm report, May 19, 6:16 PM EDT, 24 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
613 PM EDT MON MAY 19 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0559 PM    NEW KENSINGTON            PA   WIND DAMAGE
05/19/97   WESTMORELAND                   NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES
                                          BLOWN DOWN.

0556 PM    MC CANDLESS TWP           PA   WIND DAMAGE
05/19/97   ALLEGHENY               l       TREES DOWN SEVERAL LOCATIONS
                                          SUCH AS NORTH PARK.

0606 PM    OAKMONT                   PA   0.75 INCH HAIL
05/19/97   ALLEGHENY

Local storm report, May 19, 6:17 PM EDT, 23 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
618 PM EDT MON MAY 19 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0614 PM    WHEELING     r             WV   WIND DAMAGE
05/19/97   OHIO                           TREES DOWN AND WINDOWS BLOWN OUT.

Local storm report, May 19, 6:18 PM EDT, 22 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
618 PM EDT MON MAY 19 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0614 PM    WHEELING                  WV   WIND DAMAGE
05/19/97   OHIO                           TREES DOWN AND WINDOWS BLOWN OUT.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 19, 6:12 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Ohio	48 min
May 19, 6:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Marshall	34 min
May 19, 7:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Preston	48 min
May 18, 8:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Allegheny, Washington	27 min
May 18, 9:19 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Fayette, Greene	41 min
May 18, 11:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Mercer	64 min
May 19, 12:06 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Venango	69 min
May 19, 12:36 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Mercer	69 min
May 19, 5:19 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Beaver	26 min
May 19, 5:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Allegheny	51 min
May 19, 5:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Westmoreland	49 min
May 19, 6:19 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Armstrong, Indiana	41 min
May 19, 6:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Washington	54 min
May 19, 6:37 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	PBZ	Allegheny	53 min
May 19, 6:37 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Allegheny	53 min
May 19, 6:46 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	PBZ	Westmoreland	3 hr
May 19, 6:46 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Westmoreland	3 hr
May 19, 6:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Indiana	33 min
May 19, 7:07 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Fayette	68 min
May 19, 7:36 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	PBZ	Allegheny	2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 1997 Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1997 Every 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.