Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 33, NWS Cleveland, OH

August 5, 2003Erie County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this flash flood warning at Aug 5, 2003, 1:00 PM EDT for Erie County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 4 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 5, 2003, 1:00 PM EDT (17:00 UTC)
Expired
Aug 5, 2003, 5:00 PM EDT
In force
4 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 17:00 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, 5.0 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 2003-08-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 268 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 2003-08-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -2 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
268 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-42 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1016 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
13 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 051704
FFWCLE
PAC049-052100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
100 PM EDT TUE AUG 5 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 500 PM EDT

* AT 1257 PM EDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED..

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE...
  ALBION
  ERIE
  GIRARD
  SPRINGFIELD

PERSISTENT SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE LAKESHORE HAVE 
PRODUCED UP TO THREE INCHES OF RAIN IN 90 MINUTES JUST WEST OF 
GIRARD. FLASH FLOODING IS LIKELY.  MORE HEAVY RAIN IS LIKELY 
ESPECIALLY ALONG AND NORTH OF I-90.

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.

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

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Cleveland, OH issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 5, 12:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEErie60 min
Aug 5, 7:06 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLEErie3 hr

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.