Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 23, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

July 14, 2004Cecil County, Kent County, Maryland; Chester County, Delaware County, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; New Castle County, Delaware

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this flash flood warning at Jul 14, 2004, 3:05 PM EDT for Cecil County, Kent County, Maryland; Chester County, Delaware County, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; New Castle County, Delaware. It was in force for 76 days. 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 14, 2004, 3:05 PM EDT (19:05 UTC)
Expired
Sep 29, 2004, 2:00 AM EDT
In force
76 days
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties New Castle County, DE, Cecil County, MD, Kent County, MD, Chester County, PA, Delaware County, PA, Philadelphia County, PA

The nearest sounding before it

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 11 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2004-07-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2004-07-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 91 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-233 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
719 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
125 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 KPHI 141908
FFWPHI
MDC015-142200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
305 PM EDT WED JUL 14 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CECIL COUNTY IN NORTHEAST MARYLAND

* UNTIL 600 PM EDT

* AT 302 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A THUNDERSTORM WITH TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS WAS ABOUT TO MOVE 
  INTO THE COUNTY NEAR CHARLESTOWN. THIS STORM HAS DROPPED A 
  RADAR ESTIMATE OF 2.5 TO 3.0 INCHES OF RAIN ACROSS SOUTHERN 
  HARFORD COUNTY IN THE PAST HOUR. THE HEAVY RAIN THAT FELL ON
  MONDAY MAKES CECIL COUNTY EXTREMELY VULNERABLE FOR ANY ADDITIONAL
  HEAVY RAIN. 

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.

MOST FLOOD RELATED DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO 
CROSS WATER COVERED BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW WATER CROSSINGS. 
NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT. 
TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

FOR THE LATEST STORM INFORMATION...PLEASE TUNE TO NOAA WEATHER
RADIO...YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION STATION...OR YOUR CABLE
TELEVISION OUTLET.

LAT...LON 3962 7618 3939 7611 3946 7583 3969 7585

$$

TFG
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGUS51 KPHI 290010
FFWPHI
DEC003-MDC015-029-PAC029-045-101-290600-
/X.NEW.KPHI.FF.W.0023.040929T0005Z-040929T0600Z/
/0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
805 PM EDT TUE SEP 28 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS EXTENDED THE

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CECIL COUNTY IN MARYLAND
  KENT COUNTY IN MARYLAND
  NEW CASTLE COUNTY IN DELAWARE
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...WILMINGTON...NEWARK
  CHESTER COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA
  DELAWARE COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA
  PHILADELPHIA COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA
  
* UNTIL 200 AM EDT

* VERY HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES TO FALL OVER THE WARNING AREA.
  MANY SMALLER CREEKS ARE OUT OF THEIR BANKS AND WILL CONTINUE
  TO DO SO FOR THE REST OF THE EVENING. IN NEW CASTLE COUNTY
  THE CHRISTINA...WHITE AND RED CLAY CREEKS ARE FLOODING.
  IN PHILADELPHIA THE FRANKFORD AND WISSAHICKON CREEKS ARE 
  FLOODING. IN DELAWARE COUNTY THE DARBY AND HERMESPROTA CREEKS
  ARE FLOODING. DOPPLER RADAR STORM TOTAL ESTIMATES ARE APPROACHING
  10 INCHES ALONG THE PHILADELPHIA AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY BORDER 
  WITH WIDESPREAD STORM TOTALS OF 3 INCHES OR MORE ELSEWHERE IN
  THE WARNING AREA. THIS IS A DANGEROUS AND LIFE THREATENING
  SITUATION.  
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODING. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT QUICKLY. MOVE
UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS
SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

FLOODING IS OCCURRING. MOST FLOOD RELATED DEATHS OCCUR
IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS WATER COVERED BRIDGES...
DIPS...OR LOW WATER CROSSINGS. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...
EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT. TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER
GROUND.

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF FLOOD WATERS. ONLY A FEW INCHES OF
RAPIDLY FLOWING WATER CAN QUICKLY CARRY AWAY YOUR VEHICLE.

LAT...LON 3954 7600 3957 7602 4016 7578 4012 7548
      3998 7528 4001 7522 4005 7526 4009 7523
      4005 7512 4011 7502 3986 7523 3985 7536
      3964 7560 3955 7556 3947 7560 3944 7556
      3936 7564 3926 7614 3926 7614

$$

TFG

The office that day

Everything else NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 14, 3:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHICecil57 min
Jul 14, 4:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHICecil66 min
Jul 14, 4:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIKent, Queen Anne's58 min
Jul 14, 5:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHICaroline59 min
Jul 14, 2:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBucks53 min
Jul 14, 3:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBerks63 min
Jul 14, 4:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBerks65 min
Jul 14, 4:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBucks, Montgomery61 min
Jul 14, 5:01 PM EDTTornado WarningPHIMontgomery29 min
Jul 14, 5:17 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningPHI103 min
Jul 14, 5:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIPhiladelphia64 min
Jul 14, 5:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIBucks61 min
Jul 14, 5:51 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIBucks2 hr
Jul 14, 6:01 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningPHI74 min
Jul 14, 6:39 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningPHI66 min
Jul 14, 6:39 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningPHI66 min
Jul 14, 6:46 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIBerks3 hr
Jul 14, 7:00 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningPHI60 min
Jul 14, 7:38 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningPHI82 min
Jul 14, 7:38 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningPHI82 min
Jul 14, 3:53 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHINew Castle3 hr
Jul 14, 4:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHINew Castle60 min
Jul 14, 4:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHINew Castle65 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2004Flash Flood Warnings in Maryland, 2004Flash Flood Warnings in Delaware, 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.