Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 13, NWS State College, PA

July 21, 2003McKean County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 21, 2003, 9:58 PM EDT for McKean County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 6 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 21, 2003, 9:58 PM EDT (01:58 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 2003, 4:00 AM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County McKean County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:00 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 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 125 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 00:00Z on 2003-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 49 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 00:00Z on 2003-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 32 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
49 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
615 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
44 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 220202
FFWCTP
PAC083-220800-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
958 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  MCKEAN COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 400 AM EDT.

* AT 955 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED AN 
  AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL MOVING INTO MCKEAN 
  COUNTY FROM THE WEST. 

THESE SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING RAINFALL BETWEEN 1 AND 
1.5 INCHES IN AN HOUR. THIS ADDITIONAL RAINFALL...COMBINED WITH RAIN 
EARLIER IN THE DAY...WILL CAUSE RAPID RISES ON STREAMS AND CREEKS. 
URBAN AREAS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS WILL ALSO EXPERIENCE SIGNIFICANT 
FLOODING AS THE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE OVERHEAD.

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 4197 7828 4164 7821 4166 7895 4198 7889
2 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS71 KCTP 220439
FFSCTP
PAC083-220830-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1238 AM EDT TUE JUL 22 2003


...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR MCKEAN COUNTY UNTIL 4 AM...

AT 1235 AM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED THE HEAVY RAINS MOVING TO THE 
EAST AND OUT OF MCKEAN COUNTY. NO IMMEDIATE FLOODING PROBLEMS WERE 
BEING REPORTED TO COUNTY EMERGENCY OFFICIALS AT THIS TIME. 
HOWEVER...THE POSSIBILITY FOR FLOODING STILL EXISTS...AS THE 
RAINFALL TODAY WAS VERY HEAVY. THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WILL BE 
ALLOWED TO CONTINUE THROUGH 4 AM.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE 
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.

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.

CAMPERS IN THE WARNED AREA MUST MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.

$$

LAT...LON 4199 7892 4162 7897 4164 7822 4202 7822

DANGELO
000 
WGUS71 KCTP 220554
FFSCTP
PAC083-220900-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
153 AM EDT TUE JUL 22 2003


...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT FOR MCKEAN COUNTY HAS
BEEN CANCELLED...

THE HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED OVER MCKEAN COUNTY. STREAMS AND CREEKS 
IN THE WARNED AREA WERE BEGINNING TO RECEDE...ENDING THE FLASH FLOOD 
THREAT. EVEN THOUGH STREAMS AND CREEKS ARE RECEDING...SOME ROADWAYS 
STILL MAY BE COVERED WITH WATER. MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO AVOID 
DRIVING THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS.

$$

LAT...LON 4198 7898 4164 7895 4164 7822 4200 7819

DANGELO

The office that day

Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 21, 8:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLancaster62 min
Jul 21, 8:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPWarren6 hr
Jul 21, 11:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPPotter26 min
Jul 21, 11:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClearfield53 min
Jul 22, 3:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPPerry52 min
Jul 22, 3:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPDauphin57 min
Jul 22, 3:50 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPDauphin40 min
Jul 22, 4:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClearfield66 min
Jul 22, 4:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCameron17 min
Jul 22, 5:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPPotter69 min
Jul 22, 5:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCumberland91 min
Jul 22, 6:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPYork58 min
Jul 22, 6:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPDauphin47 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.