Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2000

Flash Flood Warning 39, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

July 31, 2000Jefferson County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 31, 2000, 3:58 PM EDT for Jefferson 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
Jul 31, 2000, 3:58 PM EDT (19:58 UTC)
Expired
Jul 31, 2000, 7:00 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:57 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, 8.0 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 2000-07-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 618 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2000-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 123 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
618 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-50 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
869 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
123 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
143 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WGUS51 KPBZ 311958
FFWPBZ
PAC065-312300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
358 PM EDT MON JUL 31 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  JEFFERSON COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 700 PM EDT

* AT 356 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED CLOSE TO
1.50 INCHES OF RAIN IN AN HOUR OR LESS ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF
JEFFERSON COUNTY. MORE STORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE
IN ACROSS THE WARNING AREA INTO EARLY EVENING.

* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...SYKESVILLE...
  REYNOLDSVILLE...FALLS CREEK AND BROCKWAY...

<<CALL TO ACTION>>EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THESE STORMS WILL CAUSE FLASH
FLOODING OF SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS...HIGHWAYS AND UNDERPASSES.
ADDITIONALLY...COUNTRY ROADS AND FARMLANDS ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS
AND STREAMS AND OTHER LOW LYING AREAS ARE SUBJECT TO FLASH FLOODING.

<<CALL TO ACTION>>DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE
WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW
YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

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...DIPS...OR OTHER LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 31, 2:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZArmstrong, Butler66 min
Jul 31, 3:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZClarion39 min
Jul 31, 3:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZFayette, Westmoreland64 min
Jul 31, 3:46 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZIndiana, Westmoreland3 hr
Jul 31, 4:05 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZFayette3 hr
Jul 31, 6:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZJefferson3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2000Every flash flood warning in 2000

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.