Alert archive / Ohio / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 23, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

May 25, 1997Columbiana County, Ohio

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at May 25, 1997, 10:00 AM EDT for Columbiana County, Ohio. It was in force for 4 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, 10:00 AM EDT (14:00 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1997, 2:00 PM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Columbiana County, OH

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:01 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, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 70 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 KPIT 251409
FFWPIT
OHC029-251815-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
1000 AM EDT SUN MAY 25 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  200 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL OHIO
 
   ...COLUMBIANA COUNTY
 
DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR AT 10 AM INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAIN ONCE
AGAIN MOVING INTO COLUMBIANA COUNTY. RAINFALL AMOUNTS SINCE
MIDNIGHT IN PORTIONS OF THE COUNTY HAVE RANGE FROM 1.75 TO 2.00
INCHES. GROUNDS ARE ALREADY SATURATED FROM LAST NIGHTS AND THIS
EARLY MORNINGS RAINS...RUNOFF WILL BE RAPID TO CAUSE FLOODING
OF STREAMS AND CREEKS AND HIGHWAYS AS WELL.
 
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT.
TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP 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

Special weather statement, May 25, 4:20 AM EDT, 5 hours 40 minutes before
PAZ007>009-013>016-020>023-029>032-WVZ001>004-012-021>023-041-MDZ001-
OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-260700-

SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
420 AM EDT SUN MAY 25 1997

...FLASH FLOODING POSSIBLE THROUGH 10 PM...

SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS TODAY WILL CONTAIN DOWNPOURS...POSSIBLY
HEAVY ENOUGH TO CAUSE FLASH FLOODING. THERE IS LITTLE CHANCE OF LARGE
HAIL OR DAMAGING WIND. THE PRIMARY THREAT TODAY IS FROM FLOODING.

HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED EARLY THIS MORNING...PRIMARILY NORTH AND EAST OF
PITTSBURGH. THEN AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...MOSTLY FROM BUTLER
AND PITTSBURGH SOUTHWARD.

SKYWARN IS ACTIVATED FOR EACH HALF INCH OF RAIN AND FOR FLOODING
REPORTS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 1:47 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZCarroll, Harrison, Tuscarawas6 hr
May 25, 1:47 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZCoshocton6 hr
May 25, 2:00 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZColumbiana, Jefferson6 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Ohio, 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.