Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 26, NWS Cleveland, OH

July 31, 2003Erie County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this flash flood warning at Jul 31, 2003, 6:23 PM EDT for Erie 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, 2003, 6:23 PM EDT (22:23 UTC)
Expired
Jul 31, 2003, 9:30 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

County Erie County, PA

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 145 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:27 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, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 146 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 2003-07-31Temperature 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 2003-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 16 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
1487 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
53 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 312228
FFWCLE
PAC049-010130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
623 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 930 PM EDT

* AT 620 PM EDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS AND
  THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH HEAVY RAINFALL...MOVING ACROSS ERIE
  COUNTY.  RADAR ESTIMATES INDICATED FROM 1.5 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN
  HAVE FALLEN IN MAINLY NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ERIE COUNTY
  SINCE 515 PM. SINCE GROUND IN THE AREA IS ALREADY SATURATED...
  THIS IS ENOUGH TO START FLOODING ALONG CREEKS AND STREAMS.  
  ALSO 1.75 INCHES OF RAIN WAS MEASURED IN LAWRENCE PARK WHICH
  RESULTED IN SOME MINOR FLOODING THERE.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE...
  WATTSBURG
  NORTH EAST
  FAIRVIEW 

DO NOT LET YOUR CHILDREN PLAY NEAR DRAINAGE DITCHES, STORM SEWERS OR
STREAMS.

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.

$$
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGUS71 KCLE 312333
FFSCLE
PAC049-010030-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
725 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR ERIE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA 
UNTIL 930 PM EDT...

AT 725 PM...RADAR SHOWED MOST OF THE HEAVIER RAIN WAS MOVING 
OFFSHORE FROM ERIE COUNTY.  ESTIMATES SHOWS AROUND 2 INCHES OF RAIN 
MAY HAVE FALLEN IN SOME LOCATIONS.

ROADS HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO BE FLOODED AROUND MILLCREEK AND IN 
NORTHEAST...WHERE A ROAD WAS REPORTED TO BE WASHED OUT ACCORDING TO 
THE SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT.

ACCORDING TO RADAR...ERIE COUNTY SHOULD SEE A BREAK IN RAINFALL FOR 
THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO BEFORE MORE SHOWERS OR STORMS POSSIBLY RETURN 
LATER TONIGHT.  

FLOODED AREAS WILL TAKE AN HOUR OR TWO FOR THE FLOOD WATERS TO 
RECEDE SO USE CAUTION IN THE AREAS WHERE HEAVY RAINFALL OCCURRED. 
NEVER DRIVE OR WALK THROUGH FLOODED AREAS. THE WATER MAY BE DEEPER 
THAN YOU THINK AND THE CURRENT MAY BE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK.
$$
ADAMS

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.