Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 76, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

August 16, 1997Mercer County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 16, 1997, 6:13 PM EDT for Mercer County, Pennsylvania. 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
Aug 16, 1997, 6:13 PM EDT (22:13 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1997, 10:15 PM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Mercer County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:16 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, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 100 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 1997-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2423 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 1997-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 111 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2423 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
591 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
99 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KPIT 162212
FFWPIT
PAC085-170215-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
613 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...MERCER COUNTY
 
THUNDERSTORMS TRAINING ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF MERCER COUNTY HAS
PRODUCED UP TO TWO INCHES OF RAIN DURING THE PAST HOUR. THREE INCHES OF
RAIN IN TWO HOURS WILL BRINGS STREAMS AND CREEKS OUT OF THEIR BANKS.
ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL IS LIKELY THROUGH 800 PM.
 
RESIDENTS ALONGS STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RAPID STREAM
RISES.
 
 
DO NOT DRIVE INTO ARREAS 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, Aug 16, 12:23 PM EDT, 5 hours 50 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1223 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 1997

TIME(EST)  ....CITY LOCATION....     STATE...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ...COUNTY LOCATION...
1215 PM     GREENVILLE               PA    WIND DAMAGE
08/16/97    MERCER                         TREES DOWN.
Local storm report, Aug 16, 12:25 PM EDT, 5 hours 48 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1223 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 1997

TIME(EST)  ....CITY LOCATION....     STATE...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ...COUNTY LOCATION...
1215 PM     GREENVILLE               PA    WIND DAMAGE
08/16/97    MERCER                         TREES DOWN.
Local storm report, Aug 16, 12:36 PM EDT, 5 hours 37 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1236 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 1997

TIME(EST)  ....CITY LOCATION....     STATE...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ...COUNTY LOCATION...
1215 PM     GREENVILLE               PA    WIND DAMAGE
08/16/97    MERCER                         TREES DOWN.

1230 PM     COUNTY WIDE              PA    WIND DAMAGE
08/16/97    VENANGO                        TREES DOWN.
Local storm report, Aug 16, 12:37 PM EDT, 5 hours 36 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1236 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 1997

TIME(EST)  ....CITY LOCATION....     STATE...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ...COUNTY LOCATION...
1215 PM     GREENVILLE    L           PA    WIND DAMAGE
08/16/97    MERCER                         TREES DOWN.

1230 PM     COUNTY WIDE              PA    WIND DAMAGE
08/16/97    VENANGO                        TREES DOWN.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 3:23 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZBeaver, Lawrence52 min
Aug 16, 3:41 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZButler49 min
Aug 16, 11:39 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZMercer66 min
Aug 16, 12:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZVenango67 min
Aug 16, 12:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZLawrence65 min
Aug 16, 12:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZClarion55 min
Aug 16, 12:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZForest68 min
Aug 16, 12:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZButler65 min
Aug 16, 12:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZArmstrong29 min
Aug 16, 12:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZJefferson57 min
Aug 16, 1:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZJefferson52 min
Aug 16, 5:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZMercer57 min
Aug 16, 5:18 PM EDTTornado WarningPBZMercer57 min
Aug 16, 5:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZVenango59 min
Aug 16, 6:00 PM EDTTornado WarningPBZMercer60 min
Aug 16, 6:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZButler, Venango58 min
Aug 16, 6:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZLawrence65 min
Aug 16, 7:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZMercer57 min
Aug 16, 7:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZArmstrong57 min
Aug 16, 7:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZClarion, Jefferson67 min
Aug 16, 7:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZButler, Lawrence55 min
Aug 16, 7:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZBeaver63 min

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.