Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 47, NWS State College, PA

November 19, 20034 counties in Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Nov 19, 2003, 10:43 AM EST for 4 counties in Pennsylvania. It was in force for 4 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
Nov 19, 2003, 10:43 AM EST (15:43 UTC)
Expired
Nov 19, 2003, 2:45 PM EST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cambria County, PA, Clearfield County, PA, Elk County, PA, Somerset County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 64 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:44 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, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 122 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 2003-11-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2003-11-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 51 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
662 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
63 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 191550
FFWCTP
PAC021-033-047-111-191945-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1043 AM EST WED NOV 19 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SOMERSET COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
  CLEARFIELD COUNTY IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
  CAMBRIA COUNTY IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
  ELK COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 245 PM EST.

* AT 1039 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  HEAVY RAIN CONTINUING OVER THE REGION.

HEAVY RAIN ASSOCIATED WITH AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT HAS ALREADY 
PRODUCED OVER 1 INCH OF RAIN IN MUCH OF THE AREA. ADDITIONAL HEAVY 
RAIN WILL BRING STORM TOTALS TO BETWEEN 2 AND 3 INCHES. RUNOFF FROM 
THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLOODING IN SOMERSET... 
CLEARFIELD... CAMBRIA AND ELK COUNTIES. THE HEAVIEST RAIN WILL FALL 
ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH 1 PM.

MANY SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS ARE RISING RAPIDLY...AND WILL SOON 
OVERFLOW THEIR BANKS. SIGNIFICANT STREET FLOODING IS ALSO LIKELY.

CAMBRIA COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ALREADY REPORTS THAT SOME 
STREAMS ARE AT BANKFUL IN WEST AND MIDDLE TAYLOR TOWNSHIPS AS WELL 
AS LOWER YODER TOWNSHIP.

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.

DO NOT LET YOUR CHILDREN PLAY NEAR DRAINAGE DITCHES...STORM SEWERS OR
STREAMS.

$$

LAT...LON 4118 7809 4074 7833 4035 7862 3975 7882
          3976 7936 3998 7936 4057 7887 4105 7877
          4126 7874 4140 7906 4164 7895 4162 7847
          4139 7843

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 19, 11:31 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPBedford, Blair4 hr
Nov 19, 11:47 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPCameron, McKean, Warren4 hr
Nov 19, 12:37 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPCentre, Fulton, Huntingdon4 hr
Nov 19, 1:35 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningCTPClinton, Lycoming, Potter, Tioga4 hr
Nov 19, 1:56 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLancaster, York64 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.