Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 23, NWS State College, PA

July 12, 2004Elk County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 12, 2004, 8:07 PM EDT for Elk 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 12, 2004, 8:07 PM EDT (00:07 UTC)
Expired: Jul 12, 2004, 11:00 PM EDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS State College, PA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Elk County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:09 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, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 161 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 537 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1035 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 56 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KCTP 130012
FFWCTP
PAC047-130300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
807 PM EDT MON JUL 12 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  ELK COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 1100 PM EDT.

* AT 805 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
NEARLY STATIONARY CLUSTER OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING 
MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ELK COUNTY. 
RAINFALL RATES APPROACHING TWO INCHES PER HOUR WILL CONTINUE ACROSS 
CENTRAL ELK COUNTY THROUGH 900 PM...LIKELY LEADING TO FLASH FLOODING 
FROM AROUND ST MARYS TO JOHNSONBURG AND RIDGWAY...WESTWARD TO THE 
FOREST COUNTY BORDER.

AT 850 PM...ELK COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT INDICATED WATER COVERING MANY 
ROADS IN JOHNSONBURG...AS WELL AS SEVERAL BASEMENTS FLOODED.  THE 
ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL INCREASE THESE PROBLEMS...AND ROAD CLOSURES 
SHOULD BE EXPECTED THIS EVENING FROM THE HEAVY RAINFALL. 

REMEMBER...DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER 
COVERS THE ROADWAY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE 
SABANDONED. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS CAN 
RAPIDLY FLOOD...POSSIBLY WASHING OUT ROADS AND FLOODING NEARBY LOW 
AREAS.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.

PLEASE REPORT FLOODING TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY CALLING 
TOLL FREE...1-877-633-6772.

LAT...LON 4158 7848 4127 7840 4137 7891 4162 7894

$$

GAD/JV/MS

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS71 KCTP 130133
FFSCTP
PAC047-130300-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
927 PM EDT MON JUL 12 2004


...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR ELK COUNTY UNTIL 1100 PM
EDT...

AT 925 PM EDT... A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY 
RAINFALL WAS EXITING THE SOUTHERN PART OF ELK COUNTY.  ELK COUNTY 
LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED NUMEROUS ROADS EITHER CLOSED OR UNDER WATER 
AND BASEMENTS FLOODED.  

DOPPLER RADAR PRECIPITATION ESTIMATES OF 2 TO 4 INCHES WERE COMMON 
FROM THIS EVENINGS DOWNPOURS OVER ELK COUNTY. RADAR STORM TOTAL 
ESTIMATES SINCE THE RAIN BEGAN EARLY MONDAY MORNING HAVE EXCEEDED 
6 INCHES TO THE NORTHWEST OF JOHNSONBURG.

ADDITIONAL RUNOFF FROM THE EARLIER HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE OVER 
THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS...SO DRIVERS SHOULD BE ALERT TO AREAS WHERE 
WATER MAY COVER THE ROAD. 

OBEY ALL MARKED ROAD CLOSURES AND NEVER DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO 
AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROAD. MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR 
IN AUTOMOBILES WHEN DRIVERS ATTEMPT TO CROSS WATER COVERED ROADWAYS. 
TURN AROUND AND FIND AN ALTERNATE ROUTE. 

$$

GAD

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2004 Every 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.