Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 30, NWS State College, PA

August 13, 2003Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 13, 2003, 5:36 PM EDT for Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 114 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
Aug 13, 2003, 5:36 PM EDT (21:36 UTC)
Expired
Aug 13, 2003, 7:30 PM EDT
In force
114 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Dauphin County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 118 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:39 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

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 120 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2003-08-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1101 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2003-08-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 16 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
1101 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
827 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KCTP 132143
FFWCTP
PAC043-132330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
536 PM EDT WED AUG 13 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 730 PM EDT.

* AT 533 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  NEARLY STATIONARY THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL 2 MILES 
  SOUTHEAST OF HUMMELSTOWN...OR 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF HERSHEY. 

THE SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORM CLUSTER WAS DRIFTING SLOWLY TO THE 
WEST AND HAS ALREADY PRODUCED BETWEEN ONE AND TWO AND A HALF INCHES 
OF RAIN IN LESS THAN AN HOUR TO THE SOUTHWEST OF HERSHEY. 

THE STORM WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN BETWEEN HERSHEY AND 
CLIFTON THROUGH 615 PM.  RUNOFF FROM THE EXCESSIVE RAINFALL IN THE 
WARNED AREA WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING NORTH OF THE PENNSYLVANIA 
TURNPIKE BETWEEN HERSHEY AND CLIFTON...NEAR AND ALONG ROUTE 322. 

THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS 
WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER 
SHOULD BE ABANDONED. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

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

$$

LAT...LON 4032 7665 4021 7660 4016 7674 4030 7682

DEVOIR/MARTIN
2 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS71 KCTP 132226
FFSCTP
PAC043-132345-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
625 PM EDT WED AUG 13 2003


...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR DAUPHIN COUNTY...

AT 620 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL NEAR 
MIDDLETOWN.

THE STORM WILL CONTINUE TO DRIFT WESTWARD...AND SLOWLY WEAKEN.

HOWEVER...THE THREAT OF FLASH FLOODING WILL CONTINUE...GIVEN
RUNOFF FROM THE STORM SO FAR. ESTIMATED RADAR RAINFALL SO FAR 
HAS BE BETWEEN 3 AND 4 INCHES OF RAIN.

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 4033 7685 4019 7668 4028 7666 4036 7675

MARTIN
000 
WGUS71 KCTP 132300
FFSCTP
PAC043-140000-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
656 PM EDT WED AUG 13 2003


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

THE HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED OVER THE WARNED AREA. AT THE CURRENT TIME...
THERE ARE NO REPORTS OF FLOODING.

HOWEVER...AREA STREAMS AND CREEKS MAY REMAIN ON THE HIGH SIDE  AND 
RESIDENTS SHOULD USE CAUTION AROUND AREA WATERWAYS THIS EVENING.

$$

LAT...LON 4031 7687 4018 7672 4024 7668 4040 7669

MARTIN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 10:03 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPMcKean117 min
Aug 13, 4:24 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPSchuylkill2 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.