Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998
Flash Flood Warning 47, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Mar 21, 1998, 4:48 AM EST for Juniata County, Perry County, Snyder County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 5 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
- Mar 21, 1998, 4:48 AM EST (09:48 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 21, 1998, 10:00 AM EST
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Juniata County, PA, Perry County, PA, Snyder County, PA
The radar
The State College radar (KCCX), 75 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:50 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, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 180 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 448 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 255 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 420 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCTP 210948 FFWCTP PAC001-041-067-099-109-211500- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 448 AM EST SAT MAR 21 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS EXTENDED THE FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 10 AM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA ...JUNIATA COUNTY ...PERRY COUNTY ...CUMBERLAND COUNTY ...ADAMS COUNTY IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA ...SNYDER COUNTY A SWATH OF HEAVY RAINFALL HAS OCCURRED FROM WESTERN SNYDER AND NORTHERN JUNIATA COUNTIES... SOUTH THROUGH PERRY AND CUMBERLAND COUNTIES TO ADAMS COUNTIES. THE HEAVIEST RAIN FELL OVER WESTERN PERRY COUNTY WHERE THE RADAR WAS ESTIMATING OVER 3 INCHES. RAINFALL REPORTS RECEIVED FROM THIS AREA WERE RANGING GENERALLY FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES. EVEN THOUGH THE HEAVY RAIN WAS OVER... RUNOFF FROM PREVIOUS RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE FLOODING PROBLEMS ON STREAMS... CREEKS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS THROUGH SUNRISE. A FEW REPORTS OF FLOODING AND HIGH WATER AS OF 430 AM... IN ADAMS COUNTY... ROADS WERE REPORTED FLOODED IN THE CITIES OF GETTYSBURG... BIGERLVILLE... CASHTOWN AND CARROLL VALLEY. IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY... UNDERPASSES WERE FLOODED IN THE CAMP HILL AND SHIPPENSBURG AREAS. IN PERRY COUNTY... BIXLER'S RUN CREEK WAS REPORTED TO BE FLOODING. OTHER STREAMS AND CREEKS IN THE WARNING AREA LIKELY WERE SEEING FLOODING DUE TO THE HEAVY RAINFALL. MOST SMALLER STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD BEGIN RECEDE AFTER SUNRISE. RUNOFF FROM THE SMALLER STREAMS AND CREEKS WILL CAUSE SIGNIFICANT RISES ON PENNS CREEK... CONODOGUINET CREEK AND SHERMANS CREEK. SOME FLOODING IS POSSIBLE ON THESE LARGER CREEKS BY THIS EVENING. 6 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. NICOSIA &
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 Mar 21, 3:27 AM EST, 1 hour 21 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 21, 3:27 AM EST, 1 hour 21 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 310 AM EST FRI MAR 20 1998 ...ALREADY COORD WITH PIT...PHL...BUF AND BGM CONCERNING EXPANDED WINT STM WARNINGS THROUGH THE CENTRAL COUNTIES AND LAURELS...ALONG WITH EXTENDED FLOOD WATCHES OVER THE SOUTH CENTRAL COUNTIES THROUGH THIS MORNING... ...DISCUSSION... MAJOR EARLY SPRING SNOWSTORM IN THE WORKS FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...FOLLOWING RATHER WIDESPREAD SMALL STREAM/POOR DRAINAGE FLOODING OVER PARTS OF SCENT PA THIS MORNING. 995 MB SFC LOW CURRENTLY JUMPING THE COOL AIR WEDGE EAST OF THE APPALACHIANS...AND REFORMING ALONG THE SE VIRGINIA COAST. UPR BLYR TEMPS PROGGED TO DROP RAPIDLY VIA DYNAMIC COOLING FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST LATER THIS MORNING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON... AS UPPER LOW SLOWLY APPROACHES FROM THE SOUTHWEST. IN THE MEANTIME...SHALLOW SUBFREEZING LAYER CONTINUES TO FILTER SOUTH ACROSS THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS...LEADING TO A SEVERAL HOUR PERIOD OF FREEZING RAIN/SLEET THROUGH 12 TO 14Z. THE BLYR BECOMES COLD ENOUGH TO SUPPORT WET SNOW ACROSS ALL BUT THE LOWER SUSQ AND EXTREME SOUTHCENTRAL COUNTIES BY MID AFTERNOON. ETA APPEARS TO BEST HANDLE THIS RAPID TRANSITION TO A HEAVY WET SNOW WITH THE MESO ETA 950-900 MB WINDS A BIT TOO EASTERLY THROUGH 18Z (THUS LEADING TO A SOMEWHAT MILDER UPPER BLYR). AS HAS BEEN TYPICAL WITH PAST STORMS THIS WINTER...AND APPEARS TO BE A CONSISTENT MODEL DEFICIENCY WITH FULLY DEVELOPED EAST COAST STORMS... QPF/SNOWFALL IS HIGHLY UNDERESTIMATED OUTSIDE THE PRIMARY AREA OF WARM ADVECTION/ISENT LIFT IN THE LOW TO MID LEVELS. I LIKE THE MESO ETA'S DEPICTION AND ORIENTATION OF THE PRECIP SHIELD ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND ERN COUNTIES OF OUR CWA...BUT WOULD STILL EXTEND THIS HIGHER QPF SHIELD APPROX 50 MILES FURTHER WEST WITHIN REGION OF STG MID/UPPER LVL DEFORMATION LATE TODAY AND TONIGHT. PER CALLS TO PHL AND PIT WILL UP SNOWFALL AMOUNTS ACROSS THE MTNS N OF IPT TO MORE THAN 1 FOOT...AND GO WITH A GENERAL 6 TO 9 INCHES FURTHER SOUTH AND WEST INTO THE LAURELS. WILL GO WITH A WINT WEATHER ADVIS FOR THE LWR TERRAIN OF SCENT PA ...AND A FEW INCHES TWD DARK ACROSS THE LWR SUSQ. SOME OF THE PROJECTED ACCUMS ACROSS THE NCENT MTNS MAY EVEN BE ON THE CONSERVATIVE SIDE...CONSIDERING THE PERSISTENT DEEP EASTERLY FLOW OFF THE ATLANTIC THROUGH THE LATE NIGHT HOURS TONIGHT. WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED TO SEE LOCAL 2 FT AMOUNTS IN SULLIVAN...TIOGA AND NRN LYCOMING COUNTIES OF OUR CWA BY SUNDAY MORNING. LAMBERT
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 9:54 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Franklin | 6 hr |
| Mar 20, 11:29 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Cumberland, Perry | 6 hr |
| Mar 20, 11:29 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Adams | 6 hr |
| Mar 21, 12:28 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Juniata, Snyder | 6 hr |
| Mar 21, 3:14 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Lancaster, York | 6 hr |
| Mar 21, 3:43 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Franklin | 6 hr |
| Mar 21, 4:48 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Adams, Cumberland | 5 hr |
| Mar 21, 9:40 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Cumberland, Perry, York | 5 hr |
| Mar 21, 9:40 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Lancaster | 5 hr |
| Mar 21, 9:53 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Cumberland, Perry, York | 5 hr |
| Mar 21, 9:53 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Lancaster | 5 hr |
| Mar 21, 11:42 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Franklin | 6 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.