Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 70, NWS State College, PA

May 5, 1998Bedford County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at May 5, 1998, 7:40 PM EDT for Bedford County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 50 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties.

The facts

Issued
May 5, 1998, 7:40 PM EDT (23:40 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 1998, 8:30 PM EDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Bedford County, PA

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 147 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 1998-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 26 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 1998-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 22 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
26 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
487 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
22 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
55 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 KPHL 052345
FFWCTP
PAC009-060030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
740 PM EDT TUE MAY 5 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

   * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR
     BEDFORD COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA

   * UNTIL 830 PM EDT

   * AT 740 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
     SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 57 MILES NORTHEAST OF GRACEVILLE...THE 
STORM IS SLOW MOVING AND WILL CAUSE TORRENTIAL RAIN AS IT MOVES 
SLOWLY TOWARD CESSNA THROUGH 8 PM.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA.

LAT...LON 4006 7822 3974 7846 3994 7876 4030 7859
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 May 5, 3:15 PM EDT, 4 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 5, 3:15 PM EDT, 4 hours 25 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
315 PM EDT TUE MAY 5 1998

WRKZNS SENT TO PHL AND PIT VIA PHLAFDCTP

...DISCUSSION...

UPPER LOW CONTINUES TO SPIN ACROSS THE CENTRAL APPALACHIAN MTNS THIS
AFTERNOON. A CONVERGENCE ZONE HAS SET UP ROUGHLY FROM JUST WEST OF
HARRISBURG TO JUST EAST OF STATE COLLEGE THIS AFTERNOON AND RAIN HAS
BEEN PERSISTANT IN THAT AREA...JUST SCATTERED OUTSIDE OF THAT BAND.
6 HOUR FFG GUIDANCE IN THAT AREA IS AROUND 3 INCHES. WITH DEW PTS
ONLY IN THE 50S AND PWATS BELOW AN INCH FEEL THAT 3 INCHES WILL NOT
BE REACHED...ALTHOUGH SOME LOCALIZED 2 INCH AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE IN
BEST TRAINING AREAS. THEREFORE DID NOT GO WITH AN FFA. SHOWERS WILL
PROBABLY BE INHIBITED JUST OUTSIDE OF THE BAND EARLY THIS
EVENING...WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS ELSEWHERE AS SOME BREAKS HAVE
DEVELOPED IN PRESENCE OF COLD AIR ALOFT ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER
LOW. THE CONVERGENCE AREA WILL WEAKEN AND SHIFT SLOWLY EAST THIS
EVENING AS THE UPPER SYSTEM CONTINUES TO MOVE EAST.

ON WEDNESDAY...THE UPPER SYSTEM IS NOW FORECAST TO TRACK EAST AWAY
FROM PA A BIT SLOWER THAN WHAT WAS SHOWN YESTERDAY. BASED ON MODEL
KS AND LAPSE RATES WENT WITH A CHC POP FOR THE NE 1/3 OF THE CWA.
ELSEWHERE SKIES WILL BE PARTLY SUNNY.

NEXT SYSTEM WILL APPROACH THE FORECAST AREA ON THURSDAY. WENT WITH
CHC POPS DURING THE AFTERNOON FOR THE WEST HALF OF THE CWA AND
INCREASING CLOUDS WITH NO POPS FOR THE EAST HALF.

MSE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 10:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPHuntingdon45 min
May 5, 6:15 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPYork4 hr
May 5, 6:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCambria47 min
May 5, 6:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPSomerset35 min
May 5, 7:16 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPCambria, Somerset3 hr
May 5, 7:32 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPDauphin3 hr
May 5, 7:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBedford50 min

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.