Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 39, NWS State College, PA

February 18, 1998Union County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Feb 18, 1998, 5:53 AM EST for Union 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
Feb 18, 1998, 5:53 AM EST (10:53 UTC)
Expired
Feb 18, 1998, 7:55 AM EST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Union County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:55 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 226 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 1998-02-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 1998-02-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 390 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-197 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
513 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
77 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
390 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
445 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCTP 181054
FFWCTP
PAC119-181255-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
553 AM EST WED FEB 18 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 755 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

   ...UNION COUNTY
 
...THE FLOOD WARNING FOR UNION COUNTY HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 8
AM...

AT 550 AM DOPPLER RADAR WAS INDICATING THAT MOST OF THE RAIN HAS
ENDED ACROSS UNION COUNTY. HOWEVER...ROADS WERE STILL CLOSED DUE TO
FLOODING FROM THE BUFALLO CREEK AT MIFFLINBURG...AND ALSO AT
LEWISBURG. SPOTTY LIGHT RAIN WILL CONTINUE ACROSS UNION COUNTY
THROUGH TODAY...BUT AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHT. WITH ONLY LIGHT
RAIN SHOWERS EXPECTED ACROSS THE COUNTY THROUGH THE REST OF THIS
MORNING...CONDITIONS SHOULD IMPROVE BY MID-MORNING.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ArLLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED
QUICKLY. 

MSE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 18, 12:59 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPNorthumberland, Snyder, Union5 hr
Feb 18, 12:59 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPLycoming, Montour5 hr
Feb 18, 7:55 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPUnion4 hr

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.