Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 21, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

May 18, 2004Butler County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at May 18, 2004, 6:33 PM EDT for Butler 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
May 18, 2004, 6:33 PM EDT (22:33 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 2004, 9:30 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Butler County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 70 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:37 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 78 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2004-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 312 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2004-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 254 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
312 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
635 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
254 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
254 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KPBZ 182235
FFWPBZ
PAC019-190130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
633 PM EDT TUE MAY 18 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  BUTLER COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 930 PM EDT

* AT 627 PM EDT...FLASH FLOODING WAS INDICATED BY RADAR RAINFALL 
ESTIMATES OF ONE AND A HALF INCHES IN THE PAST HOUR. ADDITIONAL 
RAINFALL IS EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. RAPID STREAM RISES 
CAN BE EXPECTED. 

<<CALL TO ACTION>>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.

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

LAT...LON 4116 7972 4095 7971 4097 7998 4116 7994

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 8:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZWashington66 min
May 17, 8:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZAllegheny53 min
May 17, 8:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZWestmoreland59 min
May 17, 9:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZButler58 min
May 18, 2:45 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZAllegheny3 hr
May 18, 2:51 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZWestmoreland3 hr
May 18, 2:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZAllegheny61 min
May 18, 3:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZWashington39 min
May 18, 3:25 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZIndiana3 hr
May 18, 4:18 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZFayette3 hr
May 18, 4:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZGreene54 min
May 18, 4:45 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZGreene3 hr
May 18, 4:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZFayette59 min
May 18, 6:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZButler57 min
May 18, 6:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZArmstrong66 min
May 18, 6:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZClarion56 min
May 18, 7:17 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZJefferson3 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.