Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 30, NWS Cleveland, OH

July 12, 2004Erie County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this flash flood warning at Jul 12, 2004, 12:44 PM EDT for Erie County, 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 outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 12, 2004, 12:44 PM EDT (16:44 UTC)
Expired
Jul 12, 2004, 4:45 PM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Erie County, PA

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 135 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:40 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, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 136 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 2004-07-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 605 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 2004-07-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 37 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
605 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-47 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
846 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
75 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 KCLE 121645
FFWCLE
PAC049-122045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
1244 PM EDT MON JUL 12 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  ERIE COUNTY IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...

* UNTIL 445 PM EDT

* AT 1242 PM EDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED..

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE...   
  CORRY
  UNION CITY
  WATERFORD
  WATTSBURG

HEAVY RAIN FELL IN THE CORRY AREA OVER 3 INCHES IN 75 MINUTES.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THESE STORMS WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...HIGHWAYS AND UNDERPASSES. ADDITIONALLY...COUNTRY
ROADS AND FARMLANDS ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS AND OTHER
LOW LYING AREAS ARE SUBJECT TO FLASH FLOODING.

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 4225 7970 4186 7970 4187 8022 4225 8021

$$
2 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS71 KCLE 121903
FFSCLE
PAC049-122045-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
300 PM EDT MON JUL 12 2004

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ERIE COUNTY 
PENNSYLVANIA UNTIL 445 PM EDT.

THE HEAVY RAIN THAT PROMPTED THE WARNING HAS MOVED EAST OF THE 
COUNTY. MOST OF THE HEAVY RAIN WAS IN THE SOUTHEAST PORTION OF THE 
COUNTY NEAR CORRY. ALMOST 4 INCHES OF RAIN...3.7 INCHES OF RAIN FELL 
AT CORRY IN LESS THAN 2 HOURS.

DOPPLER RADAR AT 3 PM WAS SHOWING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW 
THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS ERIE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA. SOME OF THESE WERE 
HEADING TOWARD THE EASTERN PORTION OF THE COUNTY AND COULD AGGRAVATE 
THE FLOODING IN THE CORRY AREA. RAINFALL WITH THIS SHOULD BE LESS 
THAN HALF AN INCH.

WHEN THE FLOODING WAS OCCURRING IN CORRY SOME ROADS WERE WASHED 
OUT...SOME CARS WERE STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD...A FEW 
ROADS HAD 3 TO 4 FEET OF WATER ON THEM AND MANY BASEMENTS WERE 
FLOODED.

PEOPLE IN ERIE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA ESPECIALLY NEAR CORRY SHOULD BE 
ON THE ALERT FOR THE POTENTIAL FOR MORE FLOODING IF HEAVY RAIN MOVES 
IN.
$$

KIELTYKA

$$

KIELTYKA
000 
WGUS71 KCLE 122054
FFSCLE
PAC049-122145-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
451 PM EDT MON JUL 12 2004

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR ERIE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA HAS BEEN 
ALLOWED TO EXPIRE.

AT 451 PM EDT...A SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES WEST OF 
WATERFORD...OR ABOUT 14 MILES SOUTH OF ERIE WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE 
SLOWLY EAST AT AROUND 10 MPH. 

THE FLOODED STREAMS HAVE RECEDED BACK TO WITHIN THEIR BANKS.  THERE 
IS THE POTENTIAL THAT SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS COULD REACH BANK FULL 
THIS EVENING FROM ADDITIONAL RAINFALL. 

FAST MOVING WATER CAN BE EXPECTED IN STREAMS AND CREEKS.  DO NOT LET 
YOUR CHILDREN PLAY NEAR DRAINAGE DITCHES, STORM SEWERS OR STREAMS.
$$

LOMBARDY

The office that day

Everything else NWS Cleveland, OH issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 12, 5:09 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLECrawford3 hr
Jul 12, 12:13 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLECrawford4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 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.