Alert archive / New York / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 5, NWS Buffalo, NY

May 14, 2004Ontario County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this flash flood warning at May 14, 2004, 2:23 PM EDT for Ontario County, New York. 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 outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 14, 2004, 2:23 PM EDT (18:23 UTC)
Expired
May 14, 2004, 5:15 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Ontario County, NY

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:24 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

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 116 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 2004-05-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 68 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 2004-05-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 88 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
68 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-100 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1221 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
77 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 KBUF 141824
FFWBUF
NYC069-142115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
223 PM EDT FRI MAY 14 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  ONTARIO COUNTY IN WESTERN NEW YORK

* UNTIL 515 PM EDT

* AT 219 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  VERY HEAVY RAIN...NEARLY 2 INCHES PER HOUR...FROM A THUNDERSTORM 
  NEAR CANANDAIGUA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING FLASH FLOODING WILL BE NEAR...  
  CANANDAIGUA THROUGH 300 PM EDT...

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...HIGHWAYS AND UNDERPASSES. ADDITIONALLY...COUNTRY
ROADS AND FARMLANDS ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS...STREAMS AND OTHER LOW
LYING AREAS ARE SUBJECT TO FLOODING.  THE HEAVY RAIN COULD AMOUNT TO 
BETWEEN 2 AND 3 INCHES TOTAL FOR THE AFTERNOON BY 3 PM...AND THIS 
RAIN WAS FALLING OVER AREAS THAT RECEIVED HEAVY RAIN ON THURSDAY.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.
IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.
RESIDENTS LIVING ALONG STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS
SWIFTLY FLOWING WATERS OR WATERS OF UNKNOWN DEPTH BY FOOT OR BY
AUTOMOBILE.

LAT...LON 4292 7740 4279 7723 4295 7698 4300 7738

$$

DJF
3 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS71 KBUF 141840
FFSBUF
NYC069-142115-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
240 PM EDT FRI MAY 14 2004

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 515 PM EDT FOR ONTARIO
COUNTY...

AT 235 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO
INDICATE A THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING FLASH FLOODING.  THIS STORM WAS
LOCATED NEAR CLIFTON SPRINGS...OR ABOUT OVER CANANDAIGUA...MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING FLASH FLOODING WILL BE NEAR...
  CANANDAIGUA...CLIFTON SPRINGS...AND PHELPS THROUGH 3 PM EDT.
  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES SHOWED THAT BETWEEN 
TWO AND TWO AND A HALF INCHES OF RAIN HAD FALLEN AROUND CANANDAIGUA 
SINCE 145 PM.  THIS HEAVY RAIN WAS ON TOP OF HEAVY RAIN THAT FELL IN 
THAT AREA THURSDAY.  ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF AROUND AN INCH 
COULD OCCUR BETWEEN 240 PM AND 330 PM...BRINGING RAINFALL TOTALS FOR 
THE AFTERNOON TO OVER 3 INCHES IN SPOTS.

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.

LAT...LON 4292 7740 4279 7723 4295 7698 4300 7738

$$

DJF
000 
WGUS71 KBUF 141931
FFSBUF
NYC069-142115-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
330 PM EDT FRI MAY 14 2004

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 515 PM EDT FOR ONTARIO
COUNTY...

AT 325 PM EDT...LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED FLOODING IN 
CANANDAIGUA.  HOUSES WERE SURROUNDED BY WATER ON GRAINGER STREET.  
ALSO...AN EARTHEN WALL COLLAPSED INTO A PARKING LOT.  ALTHOUGH THE 
THUNDERSTORMS THAT PRODUCED THE FLOODING RAINS WERE MOVING EAST OF 
ONTARIO COUNTY...ANOTHER LINE OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WAS HEADED 
TOWARD ONTARIO COUNTY FROM ALLEGANY AND LIVINGSTON COUNTIES.  
ANOTHER INCH OR SO OF RAIN MAY FALL BETWEEN 4 AND 5 PM IN PARTS OF 
ONTARIO COUNTY.  AS A RESULT...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL HAS CAUSED FLOODING OF URBAN 
AREAS...AND CAN CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS.  DO NOT 
GO NEAR STREAMS THAT ARE RUNNING HIGH OR FLOWING FAST.  STAY TUNED 
TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET...FOR THE 
LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

LAT...LON 4292 7740 4279 7723 4295 7698 4300 7738

$$

DJF
000 
WGUS71 KBUF 142107
FFSBUF
NYC069-142115-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
506 PM EDT FRI MAY 14 2004

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR ONTARIO COUNTY WILL EXPIRE AT 515 PM 
EDT...

A BAND OF SHOWERS WILL MOVE OUT OF THE COUNTY BY 530 PM.  WHILE 
THERE WILL STILL LIGHT RAIN FOR AWHILE...LESS THAN A TENTH OF AN 
INCH ADDITIONAL RAIN IS EXPECTED...AND ADDITIONAL FLOODING IS NOT 
EXPECTED.  SOME SMALL STREAMS MAY STILL BE HIGH FOR AWHILE. DO NOT 
GO NEAR STREAMS THAT ARE RUNNING HIGH OR FLOWING FAST.  

LAT...LON 4292 7740 4279 7723 4295 7698 4300 7738

$$

APB

The office that day

Everything else NWS Buffalo, NY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 14, 2:01 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningBUF59 min
May 14, 2:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFMonroe48 min
May 14, 3:02 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningBUF88 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in New York, 2004Every flash flood warning in 2004

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.