Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2000

Flash Flood Warning 48, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

August 6, 20006 counties in Pennsylvania; Brooke County, Hancock County, Ohio County, West Virginia

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 6, 2000, 8:19 AM EDT for 6 counties in Pennsylvania; Brooke County, Hancock County, Ohio County, West Virginia. 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
Aug 6, 2000, 8:19 AM EDT (12:19 UTC)
Expired
Aug 6, 2000, 11:00 AM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Allegheny County, PA, Beaver County, PA, Fayette County, PA, Greene County, PA, Washington County, PA, Westmoreland County, PA, Brooke County, WV, Hancock County, WV, Ohio County, WV

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 31 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:22 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 280 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2000-08-06Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2000-08-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 199 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
841 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
199 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
280 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 
WGUS51 KPBZ 061221
FFWPBZ
PAC003-007-051-059-125-129-WVC009-029-069-061515-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
819 AM EDT SUN AUG 6 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  ALLEGHENY COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA
  BEAVER COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA
  FAYETTE COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA
  GREENE COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA
  WASHINGTON COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA
  WESTMORELAND COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA
  BROOKE COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA
  HANCOCK COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA
  OHIO COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 1100 AM EDT

* AT 815 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED HEAVY
RAINS FALLING ACROSS THE WARNING AREA. REPORTS OF OVER 1.50 INCHES
OF RAIN HAS BEEN REPORTED IN LESS THAN 90 MINUTES IN SOME AREAS
ALREADY. THE HEAVY RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO
TRAIN ACROSS THE WARNING AREA THROUGH THE MORNING.


* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...WEST LIBERTY...WEIRTON...
PITTSBURGH...GREENSBURG...WAYNESBURG...UNIONTOWN...BEAVER
FALLS...CHESTER...BURGETTSTOWN.

<<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.

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 Pittsburgh, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Aug 6, 2:42 AM EDT, 5 hours 37 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 6, 2:42 AM EDT, 5 hours 37 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
242 AM EDT AUG 6 2000

PW GOES TO NEARLY 2 INCHES THIS AFTN. A FF WATCH MIGHT BE NEEDED. WE
ALSO HAVE 1500-2000 CAPE, LI OF -3 TO -6 AT MAX HEATG TIME. ITS EASY TO
SEE POTENTIAL OF SVR WEATHER. NEXT SHIFT CAN RE-ASSESS NEED FOR FF
WATCH.

PCPN IS A BIT AHEAD OF MESOETA MODEL, BUT ABT IN LINE WITH RUN OF 24 HR
AGO. ONCE AGAIN, NGM TAKES MORE PRECIP TOWARD THE S, INTO WV. ETA PUTS
BULK OF PCPN A BIT FURTHER N, IN THE ZZV-HLG AREA. WL MENTION HEAVY
RAIN TDA.

LO LVL JET TO NEARLY 40KTS THIS AFTN. WL HAVE TO MENTION SFC WIND OF
15-25 KT, WITH HIER GUSTS IN TSTMS. HELICITY GOES TO 300 BY 12Z TDA,
AND THEN TO 400 AT 15Z, THEN IT DECREASES BY 18Z. DAMAGING WIND LOOKS
LIKE A SURE BET TDA.

LOOKS LIKE A BREAK IN THE EARLY PART OF TONIGHT, THEN MORE RAIN COMES
INTO THE N FIRST, THEN INTO THE S BY MON MRNG.

WL FOLLOW NGM TEMPS.

IF ANOTHER OFFICE IS ENTERTAINING A FF WATCH NOW, I WOULD BE WILLING TO
ISSUE SOMETHING ADJACENT TO THEIRS.

.PBZ...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 6, 4:20 AM EDT, 3 hours 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
420 AM EDT SUN AUG 6 2000

MDZ001-OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-PAZ007>009-013>016-020>023-
029>032-WVZ001>004-012-021>023-041-061500-
ALLEGHENY-ARMSTRONG-BEAVER-BELMONT-BROOKE-BUTLER-CARROLL-CLARION-
COLUMBIANA-COSHOCTON-FAYETTE-FOREST-GARRETT-GREENE-GUERNSEY-HANCOCK-
HARRISON-INDIANA-JEFFERSON-LAWRENCE-MARION-MARSHALL-MERCER-MONONGALIA-
MONROE-MUSKINGUM-NOBLE-OHIO-PRESTON-TUCKER-TUSCARAWAS-VENANGO-
WASHINGTON-WESTMORELAND-WETZEL-

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE...

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND EARLY TONIGHT.
THE PRIMARY THREAT IS FOR STRONG...DAMAGING WIND...AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS.
A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MAY BE NEEDED LATER TODAY.

AS A WARM FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE SOUTHWEST, THE HUMIDITY WILL
INCREASE. SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR EARLY THIS
MORNING...FOLLOWED BY A BREAK IN THE RAIN...THEN ANOTHER PERIOD OF
THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY TONIGHT.

SKYWARN ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED.
Special weather statement, Aug 6, 8:06 AM EDT, 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
806 AM EDT SUN AUG 6 2000

MDZ001-PAZ014-020>023-029>032-WVZ001>004-012-021>023-041-061605-
ALLEGHENY PA-ARMSTRONG PA-BEAVER PA-BROOKE WV-BUTLER PA-FAYETTE PA-
GARRETT MD-GREENE PA-HANCOCK WV-INDIANA PA-MARION WV-MARSHALL WV-
MONONGALIA WV-OHIO WV-PRESTON WV-TUCKER WV-WASHINGTON PA-
WESTMORELAND PA-WETZEL WV-
810 AM EDT SUN AUG 6 2000

...MORNING THUNDERSTORMS...

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH
THE REMAINDER OF THE MORNING.

THESES STORMS WILL CONTAIN LOCALY HEAVY RAINFALL THAT WILL PRODUCE
IN EXCESS OF ONE INCH ALONG WITH PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS AND
POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.

EXPECT FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES.
WINDS MAY GUST OVER 35 MPH...TREES MAY TOPPLE IN SOME LOCALTIES
DUE TO SATURATED GROUNDS.

BE ALERT TO RAPID CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS MORNING IF YOU
ARE TRAVELLING...POOR VISIBILITIES WILL OCCUR ALSO.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 6, 10:47 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZFayette, Greene3 hr
Aug 6, 10:59 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZWestmoreland3 hr
Aug 6, 11:50 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZWashington3 hr
Aug 6, 1:09 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZAllegheny111 min
Aug 6, 1:42 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZFayette, Greene, Westmoreland4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2000Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 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.