Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 21, NWS State College, PA

August 9, 2003Cameron County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 9, 2003, 7:42 PM EDT for Cameron 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, 7:42 PM EDT (23:42 UTC)
Expired
Aug 9, 2003, 10:45 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Cameron County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 60 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:45 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, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 171 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 2003-08-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 421 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 2003-08-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 61 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
421 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-26 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
668 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
61 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
72 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WGUS51 KCTP 092343
FFWCTP
PAC023-100245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
742 PM EDT SAT AUG 9 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1045 PM EDT.

* AT 740 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL.

SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IN THE 
WARNED AREA. RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO 
CAUSE FLASH FLOODING IN AND AROUND THE EMPORIUM AREA. 

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 4156 7805 4130 7808 4145 7838 4161 7842

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 9, 3:47 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPTioga3 hr
Aug 9, 5:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClearfield58 min
Aug 9, 7:06 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPTioga3 hr
Aug 9, 7:21 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPMcKean3 hr
Aug 9, 7:32 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPBlair, Clearfield3 hr
Aug 9, 7:46 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPCentre3 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.