Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 48, NWS State College, PA

September 17, 2004Warren County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 17, 2004, 2:15 PM EDT for Warren County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 6 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
Sep 17, 2004, 2:15 PM EDT (18:15 UTC)
Expired
Sep 17, 2004, 8:30 PM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Warren County, PA

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 133 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:16 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, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 132 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 2004-09-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2004-09-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -6 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
957 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
81 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 KCTP 171820
FFWCTP
PAC123-180015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
215 PM EDT FRI SEP 17 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 830 PM EDT.

* AT 215 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
  NEARLY STATIONARY BAND OF HEAVY RAIN COVERING THE CENTRAL AND  
  SOUTHERN PART OF WARREN COUNTY...MAINLY TO THE SOUTH OF ROUTE 6.


RAINFALL RATES OF THREE TENTHS TO ONE HALF INCH PER HOUR WILL OCCUR 
INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. THIS RAIN...COMBINED WITH THE 2 TO 3 
INCHES THAT HAS FALLEN OVER THE PAST 24 HOURS ACROSS PARTS OF THE 
COUNTY WILL CREATE EXCESSIVE RUNOFF AND CAUSE MANY STREAMS AND 
CREEKS TO RAPIDLY FLOOD. FLOODING OF THIS TYPE MAY WASH OUT ROADS 
AND BRIDGES...AND FLOOD NEARBY LOW AREAS. 

THE AREAS MOST PRONE TO FLASH FLOODING THROUGH EARLY THIS EVENING 
EXTEND FROM NEAR YOUNGSVILLE...SOUTHWEST TO TORPEDO...TIDIOUTE... 
GRAND VALLEY...AND ENTERPRISE. 

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. MOST FLOODING DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. TURN AROUND AND
FIND ANOTHER ROUTE.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE 
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. DO NOT LET YOUR CHILDREN PLAY 
NEAR DRAINAGE DITCHES...STORM SEWERS OR STREAMS.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT. NEVER ATTEMPT TO CROSS HIGH WATER IN A VEHICLE OR ON FOOT

PLEASE REPORT FLOODING...HAIL...STRONG WINDS OR WIND DAMAGE TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY CALLING TOLL FREE...1-877-633-6772.


LAT...LON 4195 7895 4163 7894 4164 7960 4185 7960

$$

LAMBERT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 17, 5:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBedford, Fulton64 min
Sep 17, 5:22 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPBedford, Fulton53 min
Sep 17, 7:20 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPFranklin40 min
Sep 17, 7:29 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPFulton46 min
Sep 17, 7:43 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPAdams, Franklin47 min

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.