Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 21, NWS Pittsburgh, PA
NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at May 19, 1997, 6:46 PM EDT for Westmoreland 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, 6:46 PM EDT (22:46 UTC)
- Expired
- May 19, 1997, 9:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Pittsburgh, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Westmoreland County, PA
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:49 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, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 55 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KPIT 192245 FFWPIT PAC129-200145- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 646 PM EDT MON MAY 19 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 945 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WEST PENNSYLVANIA ...WESTMORELAND COUNTY AT 645 PM WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS MOVING INTO WESTMORELAND COUNTY FROM THE WEST. RADAR ESTIMATED AN INCH OF RAINFALL IN AN HOUR...THIS WILL CAUSE FLOODING. MORE STORMS ARE MOVING INTO THE COUNTY FROM THE WEST. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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, 6:40 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | PBZ | Washington | 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 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.