Alert archive / New York / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 21, NWS Buffalo, NY

August 16, 2003Wyoming County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this flash flood warning at Aug 16, 2003, 1:17 PM EDT for Wyoming County, New York. It was in force for 118 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 2003, 1:17 PM EDT (17:17 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 2003, 3:15 PM EDT
In force
118 min
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Wyoming County, NY

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:16 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

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 41 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 2003-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1388 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 2003-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 23 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
1388 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
794 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
78 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KBUF 161717
FFWBUF
NYC121-161915-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
117 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  WYOMING COUNTY IN WESTERN NEW YORK

* UNTIL 315 PM EDT

* AT 111 PM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY
  RAIN OVER ATTICA...OR ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTH OF BATAVIA...MOVING
  SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE THUNDERSTORM WITH EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL BE...
  5 MILES NORTHEAST OF WARSAW AT 130 PM EDT

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.
IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY. IF
YOU LIVE ALONG A STREAM OR CREEK ACT NOW TO PROTECT LIFE AND
PROPERTY. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS SWIFTLY FLOWING WATERS OR WATERS OF
UNKNOWN DEPTH BY FOOT OR BY AUTOMOBILE.

MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT 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.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN
BUFFALO.

LAT...LON 4286 7839 4257 7845 4259 7812 4285 7800

$$
2 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS71 KBUF 161746
FFSBUF
NYC121-161915-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
144 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO HAS CONTINUED A FLASH FLOOD 
WARNING FOR WYOMING COUNTY IN WESTERN NEW YORK UNTIL 315 PM EDT.

AT 141 PM EDT...THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING OVER THE NORTH PART OF 
WYOMING COUNTY BETWEEN ATTICA AND PERRY.  DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES 
SHOWED BETWEEN 2.5 AND 3 INCHES OF RAIN LIKELY HAD FALLEN OVER PARTS 
OF NORTHERN WYOMING COUNTY BETWEEN NOON AND 130 PM.  THE WYOMING 
COUNTY SHERIFF INDICATED STREET FLOODING IN MIDDLEBURY JUST AFTER 
130 PM.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING. 
IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY. IF 
YOU LIVE ALONG A STREAM OR CREEK ACT NOW TO PROTECT LIFE AND 
PROPERTY. 

MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT 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.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN
BUFFALO.

$$

DJF
000 
WGUS71 KBUF 161917
FFSBUF
NYC121-161930-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
316 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT FOR WYOMING COUNTY 
HAS EXPIRED...

WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAIN HAD ENDED OVER WYOMING COUNTY AT 315 PM.  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED SHOWERS AND 
THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING OVER WYOMING COUNTY...BUT THESE SHOWERS AND 
STORMS WERE MOVING QUICKLY SOUTH AND SHOULD NOT AGGREVATE ANY 
FLOODING PROBLEM.  AS A RESULT...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING HAS BEEN 
ALLOWED TO EXPIRE.

THE WYOMING COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED EMERGENCY OFFICIALS ON THE SCENE 
OF ROAD FLOODING ON ROUTE 19...SOUTH OF WYOMING.  NATIONAL WEATHER 
SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED BETWEEN 2.5 AND 3.5 INCHES OF RAIN 
FELL FROM ATTICA...ACROSS WYOMING...TO NEAR PERRY BETWEEN NOON AND 
230 PM.  MOST OF THIS FELL BETWEEN NOON AND 2 PM.

EVEN THOUGH THE RAIN IS STARTING TO DIMINISH...SOME ROADWAYS STILL 
MAY BE COVERED WITH WATER. DO NOT DRIVE WHERE ANY WATER COVERS THE 
ROADWAY.  REMAIN AWAY FROM STREAMS AND CREEKS THAT MAY BE RUNNING 
HIGH AND FLOWING FAST.

$$

DJF

The office that day

Everything else NWS Buffalo, NY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 9:06 AM EDTSpecial Marine WarningBUF69 min
Aug 16, 9:30 AM EDTSpecial Marine WarningBUF90 min
Aug 16, 9:37 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFNiagara53 min
Aug 16, 11:15 AM EDTSpecial Marine WarningBUF60 min
Aug 16, 11:44 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFChautauqua, Erie61 min
Aug 16, 12:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFWyoming64 min
Aug 16, 1:25 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningBUF95 min
Aug 16, 1:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFOntario51 min
Aug 16, 2:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFAllegany29 min
Aug 16, 2:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFChautauqua57 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in New York, 2003Every flash flood warning in 2003

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.