Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998
Flash Flood Warning 70, NWS State College, PA
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.
- 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
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 CORTEWhat 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 10:25 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Huntingdon | 45 min |
| May 5, 6:15 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | York | 4 hr |
| May 5, 6:43 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Cambria | 47 min |
| May 5, 6:55 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Somerset | 35 min |
| May 5, 7:16 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Cambria, Somerset | 3 hr |
| May 5, 7:32 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Dauphin | 3 hr |
| May 5, 7:40 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Bedford | 50 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.