Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 85, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

November 7, 1997Indiana County, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at Nov 7, 1997, 9:45 PM EST for Indiana 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
Nov 7, 1997, 9:45 PM EST (02:45 UTC)
Expired
Nov 8, 1997, 4:00 AM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Indiana County, PA, Westmoreland County, PA

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 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 00:00Z on 1997-11-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1997-11-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 82 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
526 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
82 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
108 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 080246
FFWPIT
PAC063-129-080900-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
945 PM EST FRI NOV 7 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS EXTENDED THE
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 AM EST
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...INDIANA COUNTY...WESTMORELAND COUNTY
 
HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE TO AFFECT WESTERN PORTIONS OF BOTH INDIANA AND
WESTMORELAND COUNTIES...ESPECIALLY NEAR THE CHESTNUT AND LAUREL RIDGES.
 
IN WESTMORELAND COUNTY...RTE. 381 IN LIGONIER WAS REPORTED
FLOODED OUT AND RTE. 70 THROUGH SOUTH HUNTINGTON WAS REPORTED TO BE
EXTREMELY TREACHEROUS WITH WATER FLOWING ACROSS ROADWAYS. ALSO...A ROCK
SLIDE HAD OCCURRED ALONG RTE. 70 NEAR THE SMITHTON BRIDGE.
 
IN INDIANA COUNTY...RTE. 403 BELOW CRAMER HAD WATER COVERING THE
NORTHBOUND LANE. STATE ROUTE 2019 SOUTH OF HOMER CITY NEAR COY JUNCTION
WAS ALSO FLOODED OUT.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT.  IT IS
IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO STREAMS...RIVERS...OR
CREEKS WHICH CAN BECOME KILLERS IN HEAVY RAINS.  CAMPERS SHOULD AVOID
CAMPING ALONG STREAMS DURING THREATENING RAINS.
 
BE CAREFUL AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGER OF
FLOODS.  IF YOU GET ANY INDICATION THAT FLOODS ARE
APPROACHING...QUICKLY  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO NOT STAY
IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
&
HOWIE

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, Nov 7, 8:26 PM EST, 1 hour 19 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
826 PM EST FRI NOV 07 1997

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0544 PM    CRAMER                    PA   FLOODING
11/07/97   INDIANA                        RTE 403 NORTH BOUND LANE
                                          FLOODED

0815 PM    ROBINSON                  PA   FLOODING
11/07/97   INDIANA                        RICHARD RUN FLOODED NEAR
                                          RTE 259 AND RURAL RTE 2201
                                          AT PINKERTON CROSSINGS
Local storm report, Nov 7, 8:27 PM EST, 1 hour 18 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
826 PM EST FRI NOV 07 1997

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0544 PM    CRAMER                    PA   FLOODING
11/07/97   INDIANA                        RTE 403 NORTH BOUND LANE
                                          FLOODED

0815 PM    ROBINSON                  PA   FLOODING
11/07/97   INDIANA                        RICHARD RUN FLOODED NEAR
                                          RTE 259 AND RURAL RTE 2201
                                          AT PINKERTON CROSSINGS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 8, 1:29 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZArmstrong5 hr
Nov 8, 3:58 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZIndiana, Westmoreland4 hr
Nov 8, 6:28 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZJefferson5 hr
Nov 8, 7:58 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZIndiana, Westmoreland6 hr
Nov 8, 8:25 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningPBZIndiana, Westmoreland6 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.