Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 32, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

May 25, 1997Allegheny County, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at May 25, 1997, 2:00 PM EDT for Allegheny County, Westmoreland 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
May 25, 1997, 2:00 PM EDT (18:00 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1997, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Allegheny County, PA, Westmoreland County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:56 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, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 32 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 251802
FFWPIT
OHC029-081-PAC003-129-260000-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
200 PM EDT SUN MAY 25 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL OHIO
 
   ...COLUMBIANA COUNTY...JEFFERSON COUNTY
 
 
IN WEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...ALLEGHENY COUNTY...WESTMORELAND COUNTY
 
AT 155 PM DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED ADDITIONAL RAINFALL...HEAVY AT
TIMES...MOVING THROUGH THE WARNED AREA. SOME SMALL STREAMS HAVE ALREADY
BEEN REPORTED OUT OF THEIR BANKS IN COLUMBIANA COUNTY OHIO. FLOODING WAS
ALSO REPORTED AT A BRIDGE ACROSS CASTLEMAN'S RUN IN BROOKE COUNTY. MANY
STREAMS ACROSS ALLEGHENY AND WESTMORELAND COUNTY WERE NEAR BANKFULL. THE
ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WORSEN THE FLOODING AND PUSH MORE SMALL STREAMS AND
CREEKS OUT OF THEIR BANKS AND ALSO FLOOD LOW-LYING AREAS AND SOME
BASEME&NTS AND.
 
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.
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 10:43 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZAllegheny, Westmoreland3 hr
May 25, 11:00 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZBeaver, Butler5 hr
May 25, 12:05 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZWashington4 hr
May 25, 12:33 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZArmstrong, Indiana3 hr
May 25, 3:40 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZArmstrong, Butler, Indiana4 hr
May 25, 3:40 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZBeaver, Washington4 hr
May 25, 5:16 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZFayette3 hr
May 25, 7:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZAllegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Westmoreland8 hr
May 25, 7:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZWashington8 hr
May 25, 7:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZIndiana8 hr
May 25, 7:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZFayette8 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.