Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS State College, PA

January 7, 1998Elk County, McKean County, Warren County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Jan 7, 1998, 4:37 PM EST for Elk County, McKean County, Warren 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
Jan 7, 1998, 4:37 PM EST (21:37 UTC)
Expired
Jan 7, 1998, 10:40 PM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Elk County, PA, McKean County, PA, Warren County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:38 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

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 139 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 1998-01-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 1998-01-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 148 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
489 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
148 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
305 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 KCTP 072138
FFWCTP
PAC047-083-123-080340-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
437 PM EST WED JAN 7 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR
  WARREN COUNTY
  MCKEAN COUNTY
  ELK COUNTY

* UNTIL 1040 PM EST

* HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE OVER THE AREA THROUGH MIDNIGHT. CREEKS
AND STREAMS ARE ALREADY RUNNING HIGH AND FLOODING IS EXPECTED.

IF YOU ARE IN THESE AREAS... MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. DO NOT DRIVE
THROUGH WATER COVERING THE ROAD.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED
QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

&
LA CORTE

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.

NWS State College, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jan 7, 12:40 PM EST, 3 hours 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 7, 12:40 PM EST, 3 hours 57 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1240 PM EST WED JAN 7 1998

...ZONE SUGGESTIONS...

PIT/PHL...SEE BELOW.

...DISCUSSION...

BATCH OF RAIN EARLIER ACROSS W/C NY.  ANOTHER TRYING TO EDGE INTO
W PA NOW.

STILL THINK NGM IS A TAD SLOW...BUT ETA MAY BE A TAD FAST.  WILL
KEEP THIS SHORT AND TO THE POINT.  WILL SEND NEW AFD OUT IF I
COME UP SIG. CHANGES.

1.  LOOKS LIKE MAIN PCPN TONIGHT WOULD BE UP THE OHIO
VALLEY...BASED ON WHAT IS GOING ON SO FAR.

2.  MAIN WARM FRONT PCPN I THINK WILL BE MAINLY N OF C PA...THINK
IT WILL BE NORTH OF 850 MB FRONT.

3.  THUS SOME RAIN TONIGHT AND EARLY THU FOR C PA...BUT THINK ETA
AMTS MORE IN LINE WITH ABOVE THAN NGM.

4.  THUS SHOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM FOR SMALL STEAMS...AS IT IS NOT
ALL AT ONCE.  MAIN CONCERN IS STILL FRIDAY MORNING...IF SYSTEM IS
ABLE TO GO NEG...AND WE ARE IN WARM SECTOR...THEN SIG. SQUALL
LINE COULD DUMP A LOT OF RAIN IN A FEW MINUTES.  STILL TIME TO
DEAL WITH THIS.

...THUS MOST LIKELY CAN HOLD OFF ON FLOOD WATCH FOR NOW.  CAN
LIVE WITH WARREN CO. IF THIS LINES UP WITH OTHER AREAS BETTER.
MAYBE ZNS RIGHT ALONG NY BORDER...I.E. FROM ABOUT ROUTE 6 OR 80
NORTHWARD...IF ONE THINKS THE HEAVIER RAIN MAY BE FURTHER SOUTH
THAN I THINK.  JUST DISC. THIS WITH PHI.

5.  WILL SEND OUT NEW QPF HERE...DONT EXPECT A PROBLEM WITH OUR
RIVERS...BUT WILL SEE WHAT THIS QPF DOES.  WILL LEAN QPF TOWARD
THE ETA FCST.

MARTIN

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jan 7, 11:00 AM EST, 5 hours 37 minutes before
PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>028-033>036-071700-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - DENSE FOG ADVISORY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1100 AM EST WED JAN 7 1998

...THE DENSE FOG ADVISORY THAT WAS IN .EFFECT FOR MUCH OF
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA HAS EXPIRED...

WHILE SOME AREAS WILL HAVE SOME DENSE FOG EARLY ON...CONDITIONS
SHOULD IMPROVE THIS AFTERNOON.  A LITTLE SUNSHINE MAY EVEN APPEAR
FROM TIME TO TIME.

MARTIN
Special weather statement, Jan 7, 11:00 AM EST, 5 hours 37 minutes before
PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>028-033>036-071700-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - DENSE FOG ADVISORY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1100 AM EST WED JAN 7 1998

...THE DENSE FOG ADVISORY THAT WAS IN .EFFECT FOR MUCH OF
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA HAS EXPIRED...

WHILE SOME AREAS WILL HAVE SOME DENSE FOG EARLY ON...CONDITIONS
SHOULD IMPROVE THIS AFTERNOON.  A LITTLE SUNSHINE MAY EVEN APPEAR
FROM TIME TO TIME.

MARTIN

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1998Every flash flood warning in 1998

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.