Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 40, NWS Cleveland, OH

August 9, 2003Crawford County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this flash flood warning at Aug 9, 2003, 5:21 PM EDT for Crawford 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
Aug 9, 2003, 5:21 PM EDT (21:21 UTC)
Expired
Aug 9, 2003, 8:15 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

County Crawford County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:23 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, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 142 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 2003-08-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 366 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2003-08-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -3 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
366 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-29 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
671 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
34 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 092128
FFWCLE
PAC039-100015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
521 PM EDT SAT AUG 9 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 815 PM EDT

* AT 520 PM EDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED THAT SLOW MOVING 
THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO DUMP HEAVY RAIN ACROSS  EASTERN 
CRAWFORD. OVER 2 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN IN LESS THAN 90 MINUTES. 
TOTAL RAINFALL COULD REACH 3 TO 4 INCHES AND PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING 
FROM
LINCOLNVILLE TO TROY CENTER.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE...
  LITTLE COPLEY
  BLOOMING VALLEY

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THESE STORMS WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...COUNTRY ROADS...AS WELL AS FARMLAND ALONG THE
BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS.

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.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT. IT IS
IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO STREAMS...RIVERS...OR
CREEKS WHICH CAN BECOME KILLERS IN HEAVY RAINS. CAMPERS SHOULD AVOID
CAMPING ALONG STREAMS OR CREEKS DURING THREATENING RAINS.

$$
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGUS71 KCLE 100031
FFSCLE
PAC039-100115-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
818 PM EDT SAT AUG 9 2003

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR CRAWFORD COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA HAS 
EXPIRED...

HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED ACROSS CRAWFORD COUNTY.  LIGHT RAIN OVER THE 
COUNTY SHOULD END BY 930 PM.  NUMEROUS ROADS WERE FLOODED EAST OF 
MEADVILLE AND SOME MOTORISTS WERE STRANDED. IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME 
FOR FLOOD WATERS TO RECEDE AND MOTORISTS SHOULD BE AWARE OF WATER 
COVERED ROADWAYS AND PERHAPS ROADS THAT WERE COMPLETELY WASHED OUT.
 
OVER THREE INCHES OF RAIN WERE REPORTED JUST NORTHEAST OF MEADVILLE.

$$
LAPLANTE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 9, 6:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECrawford51 min

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.