Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 32, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

April 9, 1998Jefferson County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at Apr 9, 1998, 1:45 PM EDT for Jefferson 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
Apr 9, 1998, 1:45 PM EDT (17:45 UTC)
Expired
Apr 9, 1998, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson County, PA

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 122 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 1998-04-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1998-04-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 154 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
597 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
154 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
357 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 KPIT 091750
FFWPIT
PAC065-092145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
145 PM EDT THU APR 9 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...JEFFERSON COUNTY
 
AREAS OF HEAVY RAIN HAVE PRODUCED RAINFALL RATES OF OVER AN INCH IN AN
HOUR ACROSS PARTS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY. RADAR INDICATES THAT ADDITION
RAINFALL WILL BE SUFFICIENT TO CAUSE FLOODING.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS T$HE ROAD.
NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT.
TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 9, 11:10 AM EDT, 2 hours 35 minutes before
MDZ001-OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-PAZ007>009-013>016-020>023-
029>032-WVZ001>004-012-021>023-041-092000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
1110 AM EDT THU APR 9 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH SAYS THERE IS THE
POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON
ACROSS EAST CENTRAL OHIO...NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA...EXTREME
WESTERN MARYLAND...AND SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.  THE BIGGEST
THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.  IN ADDITION...
SINCE THE GROUND IS ALREADY VERY WET ACROSS THESE AREAS...THE HEAVY
RAIN ASSOCIATED WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD POSE SOME LOCALIZED
FLOODING PROBLEMS.

...WEATHER EXPLANATION...
AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW LOCATED IN CENTRAL INDIANA THIS MORNING WILL BEGIN
TO MOVE QUICKLY TO THE EAST THIS AFTERNOON.  THIS COLD AIR ALOFT...
COMBINED WITH ANY SURFACE HEATING WE MAY RECEIVE TODAY...WILL
COMBINE TO PRODUCE THUNDERSTORMS.

THIS UPPER-LEVEL LOW IS EXPECTED TO PASS EAST OF OUR AREA THIS
EVENING...BRINGING AN END TO THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM THREAT.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR UPDATES ON THIS POTENTIALLY
HAZARDOUS SITUATION.

CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITE AT

WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/ER/PIT

STRAGER
Special weather statement, Apr 9, 11:10 AM EDT, 2 hours 35 minutes before
MDZ001-OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-PAZ007>009-013>016-020>023-
029>032-WVZ001>004-012-021>023-041-092000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
1110 AM EDT THU APR 9 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH SAYS THERE IS THE
POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON
ACROSS EAST CENTRAL OHIO...NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA...EXTREME
WESTERN MARYLAND...AND SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.  THE BIGGEST
THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.  IN ADDITION...
SINCE THE GROUND IS ALREADY VERY WET ACROSS THESE AREAS...THE HEAVY
RAIN ASSOCIATED WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD POSE SOME LOCALIZED
FLOODING PROBLEMS.

...WEATHER EXPLANATION...
AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW LOCATED IN CENTRAL INDIANA THIS MORNING WILL BEGIN
TO MOVE QUICKLY TO THE EAST THIS AFTERNOON.  THIS COLD AIR ALOFT...
COMBINED WITH ANY SURFACE HEATING WE MAY RECEIVE TODAY...WILL
COMBINE TO PRODUCE THUNDERSTORMS.

THIS UPPER-LEVEL LOW IS EXPECTED TO PASS EAST OF OUR AREA THIS
EVENING...BRINGING AN END TO THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM THREAT.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR UPDATES ON THIS POTENTIALLY
HAZARDOUS SITUATION.

CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITE AT

WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/ER/PIT

STRAGER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 9, 10:09 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZWestmoreland51 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.