Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 39, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

June 12, 2003Venango County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at Jun 12, 2003, 8:11 PM EDT for Venango 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
Jun 12, 2003, 8:11 PM EDT (00:11 UTC)
Expired
Jun 12, 2003, 11:15 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Venango County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:03 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 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 114 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 00:00Z on 2003-06-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1375 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 2003-06-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 100 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
1375 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
753 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
100 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
171 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.8
Supercell composite
4.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KPBZ 130014
FFWPBZ
PAC121-130315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
811 PM EDT THU JUN 12 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  VENANGO COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 1115 PM EDT

* AT 811 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED HEAVY 
RAIN HAS ALREADY FALLEN IN THE COUNTY WITH MORE MORE HEAVY RAIN 
MOVING INTO THE AREA. THIS WILL CAUSE STREAMS AND CREEKS TO COME OUT 
OF THEIR BANKS.

* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...HASSON HEIGHTS AND
  WOODLAND HEIGHTS...

<<CALL TO ACTION>>DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE
WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW
YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 12, 8:18 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZForest3 hr
Jun 12, 8:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZBeaver40 min
Jun 12, 8:47 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZIndiana3 hr
Jun 12, 9:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZButler57 min
Jun 12, 10:18 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZButler3 hr
Jun 12, 10:40 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZAllegheny3 hr
Jun 12, 10:44 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZVenango3 hr
Jun 12, 11:13 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZClarion3 hr
Jun 12, 11:24 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZArmstrong4 hr
Jun 13, 1:24 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZForest4 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.