Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Cleveland, OH

March 18, 2003Crawford County, Erie County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this flash flood warning at Mar 18, 2003, 10:40 AM EST for Crawford County, Erie County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 2 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 18, 2003, 10:40 AM EST (15:40 UTC)
Expired
Mar 18, 2003, 10:42 AM EST
In force
2 min
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

Counties Crawford County, PA, Erie County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 153 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:38 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, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 166 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 2003-03-18Temperature 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 2003-03-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -30 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1085 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-33 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 KCLE 181540
FFWCLE
PAC039-049-181542-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED...TEST
FLASH FLOOD WARNING...THIS IS A TEST MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
1040 AM EST TUE MAR 18 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A

...THIS IS A TEST...NO SEVERE WEATHER IS OCCURRING...TEST

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CRAWFORD COUNTY IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...
  ERIE COUNTY IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...

* UNTIL 1042 AM EST

* AT 1040 AM EST WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED..
  TEST FLASH FLOODING CONDITIONS.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE...
  ALBION
  CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS
  CONNEAUTVILLE
  EDINBORO
  ERIE
  GIRARD
  LINESVILLE
  MEADVILLE
  NORTH EAST
  SPARTANSBURG
  UNION CITY
  WATERFORD
  WATTSBURG

THIS TEST WARNING WAS SENT AS PART OF A STATEWIDE DRILL IN ORDER TO 
TEST SEVERE WEATHER PREPAREDNESS IN PENNSYLVANIA. THIS WEEK HAS BEEN 
DECLARED SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK.
 
AT THIS TIME....LOCAL COMMUNITIES...SCHOOLS...BUSINESSES AND PRIVATE
INDIVIDUALS SHOULD BE REHEARSING THE ACTIONS THEY WOULD TAKE IF 
FLOODING SHOULD OCCUR.

EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE A PLAN IN CASE FLOODING OR ANOTHER DEVASTATING
WEATHER EVENT STRIKES. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WANTS
YOU TO BE PREPARED BEFORE SEVERE WEATHER OCCURS.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT DISSEMINATION SYSTEMS WORK SMOOTHLY IN 
ORDER PASS ALONG VITAL WARNING INFORMATION. THOSE OF YOU WHO 
DISSEMINATE OUR WARNINGS PERFORM A VITAL SERVICE AND IT IS GREATLY 
APPRECIATED BY THE NWS AND THE CITIZENS OF NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA.


$$

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 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.