Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS State College, PA

March 9, 2003Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Mar 9, 2003, 5:29 PM EST for Lancaster 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
Mar 9, 2003, 5:29 PM EST (22:29 UTC)
Expired
Mar 9, 2003, 8:30 PM EST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Lancaster County, PA

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 157 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2003-03-09Temperature 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2003-03-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -55 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1611 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
25 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 KCTP 092236
FFWCTP
PAC071-100130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
529 PM EST SUN MAR 9 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  LANCASTER COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 830 PM EST.

* AT 527 PM EST...LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED AN ICE JAM
  ON THE LITTLE CHICKIES CREEK.  NEAR MOUNT JOY...THE WATER HAS 
  OVERFLOWED ITS BANKS BUT WAS NOT AFFECTING ANY ROADWAYS AS OF 525
  PM.  AN AUTOMATED GAGE ON THE LITTLE CHICKIES CREEK CONTINUES TO
  SHOW WATER LEVELS RISING BEHIND THE ICE JAM...AND CONTINUED RISES
  ARE EXPECTED IN THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO. 

AN ICE JAM RESTRICTS WATER FLOW. THE WATER BEHIND THE ICE JAM WILL BE
VERY SLOW TO RECEED AND MAY CONTINUE TO ACCUMULATE. BE PREPARED TO
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND TO AVOID THE FLOOD WATER.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED. MOVE TO
HIGHER GROUND.

$$

LAT...LON 4015 7602 3997 7608 3979 7621 4014 7643

BUDD/DEVOIR
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGUS71 KCTP 100135
FFSCTP
PAC071-100330-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
827 PM EST SUN MAR 9 2003


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

AT 823 PM EST...LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS CONTINUED TO REPORT 
THE LITTLE CHICKIES CREEK OVER ITS BANKS NEAR MOUNT JOY.  THE LITTLE 
CHICKIES CREEK GAGE AT MOUNT JOY HAS INDICATED NEARLY STEADY WATER 
LEVELS OVER THE PAST 3 HOURS.  WITH TEMPERATURES HAVING DROPPED 
BELOW FREEZING...WATER LEVELS SHOULD GRADUALLY RECEDE OVERNIGHT.  

HIGH WATER LEVELS THIS EVENING APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY A 
COMBINATION OF SNOW MELT FROM THE DAYLIGHT HOURS SUNDAY AND POSSIBLE 
ICE JAMMING ACTION ALONG THE CREEK.

WHILE THE POTENTIAL FOR OVERNIGHT FLOODING HAS DECREASED... PERSONS 
NEAR THE LITTLE CHICKIES CREEK SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE AWARE OF THE 
ELEVATED WATER LEVELS AND MINOR THREAT OF FLOODING AND BE PREPARED 
TO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE 
THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD 
BE ABANDONED. 

IF YOU LIVE BELOW THE LOCATION OF THE ICE JAM...BE AWARE THAT THE JAM
COULD GIVE WAY AND SEND LARGE QUANTITIES OF WATER DOWNSTREAM. THIS
COULD CAUSE RAPID FLOODING OF THE AREA BELOW THE JAM.

$$

DEVOIR/BUDD

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.