Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 82, NWS State College, PA

June 20, 1998Cambria County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Jun 20, 1998, 12:34 AM EDT for Cambria County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 4 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
Jun 20, 1998, 12:34 AM EDT (04:34 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1998, 4:35 AM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Cambria County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:33 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 118 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 00:00Z on 1998-06-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 575 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 00:00Z on 1998-06-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 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
575 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1030 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
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 200435
FFWCTP
PAC021-200835-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1234 AM EDT SAT JUN 20 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN CAMBRIA COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 435 AM EDT

* AT 1230 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN MOVING SLOWLY
  SOUTHEAST INTO THE JOHNSTOWN AREA.

*

DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD!

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 Jun 19, 9:15 PM EDT, 3 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 19, 9:15 PM EDT, 3 hours 19 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
915 PM EDT FRI JUN 19 1998

WORK ZONES SENT TO PIT/PHL VIA PHLADMCTP.

...DISCUSSION...

LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS LOWEST SFC PRESSURES OVER EASTERN
NY...WITH A LIGHT WESTERLY FLOW ACROSS PA AND GRADUALLY DECREASING
DEW PTS TO THE WEST...WITH UPPER 60S AND LOWER 70S ACROSS THE
SUSQUEHANNA VLY AND AROUND 60 IN WESTERN OH.

MODELS INDICATE LITTLE TO TRIGGER STORMS TONIGHT...WITH LIGHT
SUBSIDENCE INDICATED ON ALL MODELS INCLUDING THE NEW MESO-ETA. STILL
A FEW RW/TRW ARE SURVIVING ATTM OVER WESTERN PA. THESE ARE MOVING
VERY SLOWLY SE AND DOUBT THEY HAVE ANY CHC TO MAKE IT EAST OF THE
CENTRAL MTNS TNGT. KEPT A LOW CHC POP TO COVER FOR THE FEW RENEGADE
SHOWERS OVER THE SW HALF OF THE CWA...INCLUDING THE LWR SUSQ...BUT
REMOVED ANY POPS FOR ALL OF THE MID SUSQ AND NORTH.

THE NGM FWCS ARE RUNNING A BIT TOO LOW WITH THE DEW PTS THIS
EVENING...AND WITH ONLY A SLOW FALL EXPECTED BUMBEP LOW TEMPS UP A
CATEGORY ACROSS THE EASTERN ZONES.

MSE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 3:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClinton46 min
Jun 20, 5:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPSnyder48 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.