Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 32, NWS State College, PA

August 16, 2003Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 16, 2003, 8:58 PM EDT for Dauphin 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 16, 2003, 8:58 PM EDT (00:58 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 2003, 12:00 AM EDT
In force
3 hr
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 00:59 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 2003-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1216 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 2003-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -29 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
1216 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1148 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
18 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 170101
FFWCTP
PAC043-170400-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
858 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT.

* AT 849 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A     
  THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL OVER DAUPHIN COUNTY.

SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IN THE
WARNED AREA. RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH 
FLOODING JUST EAST OF HALIFAX THROUGH THE EVENING.

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

$$

LAT...LON 4062 7665 4030 7667 4030 7684 4053 7689

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 8:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLycoming40 min
Aug 16, 10:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPAdams46 min
Aug 16, 10:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPYork34 min
Aug 17, 3:00 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCentre15 min
Aug 17, 3:17 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPMifflin, Snyder28 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.