Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS State College, PA

March 20, 2003Cambria County, Somerset County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Mar 20, 2003, 10:40 AM EST for Cambria County, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 15 min. 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 20, 2003, 10:40 AM EST (15:40 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 2003, 10:55 AM EST
In force
15 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cambria County, PA, Somerset County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 106 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:44 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, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 106 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 2003-03-20Temperature 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°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2003-03-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 310 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
614 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
310 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
339 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 181540
FFWCTP
PAC021-111-201555-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TEST...FLASH FLOOD WARNING...TEST  THIS IS ONLY A TEST 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1040 AM EST TUE MAR 20 2003


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD TEST WARNING FOR...
  CAMBRIA COUNTY.
  SOMERSET COUNTY.

* UNTIL 1055 AM EST.

* AT 1038 AM...A TEST...TEST...TEST..FLASH FLOOD WAS INDICATED 
  WEST OF EBENSBURG AND JOHNSTOWN...BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE 
  DOPPLER RADAR. THIS IS ONLY A TEST.

* THE TEST FLASH FLOOD WILL BE NEAR...
  EBENSBURG AT 1050 AM.
  JOHNSTOWN AT 1050 AM.
  SOMERSET AT 1055 AM.


IF THIS WERE AN ACTUAL WARNING...WE WOULD PROVIDE DETAILS OF DAMAGE
AND SUGGEST SAFE LOCATIONS AS SHELTER.

AGAIN...THIS IS A DRILL FLASH FLOOD WARNING AS PART OF PENNSYLVANIA 
WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK AND IS ONLY A TEST.  NO FLOODING IS OCCURRING 
AT THIS TIME.

$$

ONDREJIK

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.