Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998
Flash Flood Warning 37, NWS Pittsburgh, PA
NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at Apr 16, 1998, 11:23 AM EDT for Mercer County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 3 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 16, 1998, 11:23 AM EDT (15:23 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 16, 1998, 1:56 PM EDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Pittsburgh, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Mercer County, PA
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:26 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 12:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 100 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
- 5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -239 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 741 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 397 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 451 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KPIT 161524 FFWPIT PAC085-161736- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVIATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 1123 AM EDT THU APR 16 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... MERCER COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA * UNTIL 156 PM EDT * FROM 600 AM THROUGH 1100 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF MODERATE TO OCCASIONALLY HEAVY RAIN ACROSS MERCER COUNTY. RAIN WAS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 30 MPH. SKYWARN SPOTTERS REPORTED IN EXCESS OF AN INCH DURING THIS TIME PERIOD. THIS WAS IN ADDITION TO NEARLY AN INCH OF RAIN ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT. * IN MERCER COUNTY...IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THAT YANKEE RUN NEAR BROOKFIELD PA AND BOBBY RUN NEAR HERMITAGE PA WERE OUT OF THEIR BANKS. OTHER STREAMS AND CREEKS ARE RISING AND MAY OVERFLOW THEIR BANKS... ALSO. LOWLAND AND BASEMENT FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED NEAR GREENVILLE PA. DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD! DE MARIS/SISK/DAVIS
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 16, 5:35 AM EDT, 5 hours 48 minutes before
MDZ001-OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-PAZ007>009-013>016-020>023- 029>032-WVZ001>004-012-021>023-041-162200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 535 AM EDT THU APR 16 1998 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH SAYS THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN EAST CENTRAL OHIO...EXTREME NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA...WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA...AND EXTREME WESTERN MARYLAND TODAY. THE STORMS WILL POSE THE MULTIPLE THREAT OF LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING WIND...HEAVY RAIN AND LIGHTNING. HEAVY RAINS THAT EXCEED 1 INCH IN 3 HOURS CAN CAUSE FLOODING IN POOR DRAINAGE AREAS AND ALONG SMALL STREAMS. A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF SOUTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...EAST CENTRAL OHIO...NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AND WESTERN MARYLAND UNTIL 4PM. ...WEATHER EXPLANATION... A STORM SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH THE LOWER GREAT LAKES WILL BRING A WARM FRONT THROUGH THE OHIO HEADWATERS REGION THIS MORNING. THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THIS BOUNDARY COULD BE INITIALLY SEVERE BUT THE MAIN THREAT IS LIKELY TO BE HEAVY RAIN. DURING THE REST OF THE DAY MUCH OF THE AREA WILL BE IN A WARM UNSTABLE FLOW. AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES WESTERN OHIO THIS AFTERNOON A SQUALL LINE IS LIKELY TO FORM WITH THE RETURN OF SEVERE WEATHER. THE THREAT THIS AFTERNOON IS LIKELY TO BE DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL. WITH GROUND ALREADY SATURATED ANY HEAVY RAINS COULD ALSO BRING FLOODING. THE SEVERE POTENTIAL WILL NOT DIMINISH UNTIL A COLD FRONT COMES THROUGH LATE TONIGHT. SKYWARN ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE THIS MORNING AND HIGHLY LIKELY DURING THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER MEDIA OUTLETS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/ER/PIT
The office that day
Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 16, 11:25 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | PBZ | Mercer | 3 hr |
| Apr 16, 11:45 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | PBZ | Mercer | 2 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.