Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS State College, PA

May 10, 2003Somerset County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at May 10, 2003, 9:18 AM EDT for Somerset 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
May 10, 2003, 9:18 AM EDT (13:18 UTC)
Expired
May 10, 2003, 12:15 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Somerset County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:22 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, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 103 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 2003-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 190 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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 2003-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 50 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
190 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-137 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1034 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
69 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KCTP 101323
FFWCTP
PAC111-101615-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
918 AM EDT SAT MAY 10 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1215 PM EDT.

* AT 915 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL MOVING INTO THE
  CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PORTION OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PORTION OF 
THE COUNTY THROUGH 1015 AM...BRINGING AN ADDITIONAL INCH OF RAIN IN 
AREAS WHICH HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED RAINFALL EARLIER THIS MORNING.

THE HEAVY RAINS WILL DIMINISH AFTER 1015 AM...BUT RUNOFF FROM THIS 
EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING NEAR THE TOWNS OF 
SOMERSET...CONFLUENCE...AND MEYERSDALE.

SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS WILL RAPIDLY FLOOD...POSSIBLY WASHING OUT
ROADS AND FLOODING NEARBY LOW AREAS.

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 4014 7869 3971 7880 3972 7957 4023 7911

RXR/KL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 10, 4:12 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCambria63 min
May 10, 4:37 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBedford, Blair53 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.