Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 34, NWS State College, PA

September 1, 2003Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 1, 2003, 10:05 PM EDT for Lancaster 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
Sep 1, 2003, 10:05 PM EDT (02:05 UTC)
Expired
Sep 2, 2003, 1:00 AM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Lancaster County, PA

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 157 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 2003-09-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1657 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 2003-09-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 108 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1657 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
847 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
107 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
4.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KCTP 020211
FFWCTP
PAC071-020500-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1005 PM EDT MON SEP 1 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 100 AM EDT.

* AT 1000 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY
  HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS MOST OF LANCASTER COUNTY.

SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IN THE
WARNED AREA. RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH 
FLOODING. AS OF 10 PM...ONLY MINOR FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED...BUT 
THE ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WHICH WILL CONTINUE THROUGH 11 PM...WILL 
ELEVATE THE FLOODING PROBLEMS. SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS WILL RISE 
QUICKLY OUT OF THEIR BANKS.

SPOTTER REPORTS INDICATE THAT 2.25 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN IN THE 
LITITZ AREA...WHILE 1 INCH HAS FALLEN IN THE MOUNT JOY AREA BETWEEN 
930 PM AND 10 PM.

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 4016 7593 3971 7617 4011 7668 4023 7647
          4033 7617

&
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGUS71 KCTP 020346
FFSCTP
PAC071-020500-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1135 PM EDT MON SEP 1 2003


...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR LANCASTER COUNTY UNTIL
1 AM ...

AT 1132 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
CLUSTER OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MOVING EAST INTO 
LANCASTER COUNTY. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS FROM THIS AREA OF 
SHOWERS WILL AMOUNT TO AROUND ONE HALF INCH. 

COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONAL REPORTED THAT LOCALIZED 
FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS AND ROADS HAS DIMINISHED DURING THE PAST 
HOUR. THE ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL KEEP STREAMS RUNNING HIGH...AND 
CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADS AND LOW LYING AREAS.

ANOTHER AREA OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...CURRENTLY ACROSS 
THE LAUREL HIGHLANDS OF SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA...WILL LIKELY MOVE 
ACROSS LANCASTER COUNTY BETWEEN 4 AND 7 AM TUESDAY MORNING. 

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 4015 7668 3974 7622 3974 7609 4012 7590
          4033 7610

LAMBERT/JUNG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 1, 9:40 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPFranklin3 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.