Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 81, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

September 11, 1997Venango County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 11, 1997, 6:23 PM EDT for Venango County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 2 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
Sep 11, 1997, 6:23 PM EDT (22:23 UTC)
Expired
Sep 11, 1997, 8:30 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Venango County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:25 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, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 114 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 1997-09-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 251 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 1997-09-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -1 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
251 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
555 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
14 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 112222
FFWPIT
PAC121-120030-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
623 PM EDT THU SEP 11 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...VENANGO COUNTY
 
AT 620 PM DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED RAIN HEAVY ENOUGH TO CAUSE FLOODING. THE
PRIMARY THREAT IS IN SOUTHERN VENANGO COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA. ABOUT ONE AND
A HALF INCHES OF RAIN FELL IN JUST AN HOUR.
 
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.

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.