Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 31, NWS Cleveland, OH

July 17, 2004Erie County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this flash flood warning at Jul 17, 2004, 8:38 PM EDT for Erie 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 outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 17, 2004, 8:38 PM EDT (00:38 UTC)
Expired
Jul 17, 2004, 11:45 PM EDT
In force
3 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), 141 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:42 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 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 141 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 00:00Z on 2004-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 217 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 00:00Z on 2004-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -2 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
217 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1356 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
52 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 180039
FFWCLE
PAC049-180345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
838 PM EDT SAT JUL 17 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1145 PM EDT

* AT 834 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
HEAVY RAIN NEAR CORRY. THE RAIN WAS MOVING SLOWLY NORTH. 
FLOODING FROM

* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...CORRY...

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 4186 7978 4197 7978 4197 7962 4186 7962

$$

KIELTYKA
3 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS71 KCLE 180100
FFSCLE
PAC049-180300-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
858 PM EDT SAT JUL 17 2004

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ERIE COUNTY 
PENNSYLVANIA UNTIL 1145 PM EDT.

AT 858 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN 3 MILES SOUTH OF
CORRY...OR ABOUT 25 MILES WEST OF WARREN...MOVING NORTH AT 5 MPH.

RAINFALL AMOUNTS IN A FEW SPOTS COULD BE IN EXCESS OF 2 INCHES AS 
THIS IS A SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORM.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THESE STORMS COULD CAUSE LOCAL 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 FLOODING.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODING.

$$

KIELTYKA
000 
WGUS71 KCLE 180237
FFSCLE
PAC049-180330-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
1030 PM EDT SAT JUL 17 2004

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ERIE COUNTY 
PENNSYLVANIA UNTIL 1145 PM EDT.

AT 1030 PM DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED THAT THE THUNDERSTORM THAT PROMPTED 
THE WARNING HAD WEAKENED AND WAS BETWEEN NORTHEAST AND WATTSBURG AND 
CONTINUING TO MOVE SLOWLY NORTH.

DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED THAT A FEW LOCATIONS NEAR CORRY COULD HAVE 
RECEIVED AROUND TWO AND A HALF INCHES OF RAIN. SOME ROADS WERE STILL 
CLOSED. DURING THE HEAVY RAIN THE WATER WAS AS DEEP AS TWO TO THREE 
FEET ON MANY ROADS NEAR CORRY.

EVEN THOUGH THE HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED THE WATER WILL ONLY SLOWLY 
RECEDE FROM ROADS AND STREAMS. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE THROUGH 
HIGH WATER AS THE WATER MAY BE DEEPER THAN YOU THINK.

$$
KIELTYKA
000 
WGUS71 KCLE 180345
FFSCLE
PAC049-180445-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
1145 PM EDT SAT JUL 17 2004

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING HAS EXPIRED FOR ERIE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA.

AT 1142 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
FEW SHOWERS IN ERIE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA. THE THUNDERSTORM AND HEAVY 
RAIN THAT PROMPTED THE WARNING WEAKENED A COUPLE OF HOURS AGO. 

HOWEVER...THE WATER WAS SLOWLY RECEDING AND SOME ROADS MAINLY IN THE 
CORRY AREA MAY STILL HAVE HIGH WATER ON THEM. UNTIL THE WATER 
COMPLETELY RECEDES MOTORISTS WILL HAVE TO USE CAUTION AS THEY 
ENCOUNTER HIGH WATER ON ROADS.

$$

KIELTYKA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 18, 1:45 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLECrawford, Erie4 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.