Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 87, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

September 18, 20044 counties in Pennsylvania; Sussex County, Warren County, New Jersey

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this flash flood warning at Sep 18, 2004, 9:48 AM EDT for 4 counties in Pennsylvania; Sussex County, Warren County, New Jersey. It was in force for 4 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 18, 2004, 9:48 AM EDT (13:48 UTC)
Expired
Sep 18, 2004, 1:45 PM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Sussex County, NJ, Warren County, NJ, Carbon County, PA, Lehigh County, PA, Monroe County, PA, Northampton County, PA

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 141 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:51 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

Brookhaven, NY (KOKX), launched 12:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 199 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, Brookhaven, NY at 12:00Z on 2004-09-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1385 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, Brookhaven, NY at 12:00Z on 2004-09-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 226 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1385 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
550 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
226 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
206 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
5.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KPHI 181358
FFWPHI
NJC037-041-PAC025-077-089-095-181745-
/X.NEW.KPHI.FF.W.0007.040918T1348Z-040918T1745Z/
/0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
948 AM EDT SAT SEP 18 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS CONTINUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  LEHIGH COUNTY IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA
  NORTHAMPTON COUNTY IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA
  CARBON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA
  MONROE COUNTY IN NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA
  SUSSEX COUNTY IN NORTHWEST NEW JERSEY
  WARREN COUNTY IN NORTHWEST NEW JERSEY

* UNTIL 145 PM EDT

* AT 947 AM EDT...WIDESPREAD FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED THROUGHOUT   
  THE POCONO MOUNTAIN AREA AND THE LEHIGH VALLEY, AS WELL AS IN      
  NORTHWESTERN NEW JERSEY. DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUES TO SHOW RAIN      
  THROUGHOUT THE REGION THIS MORNING. IN ADDITION...THE EXTREMELY    
  WET SOILS COMBINED WITH WINDS 20 TO 30 MPH ARE BRINGING DOWN TREES 
  ACROSS THE AREA. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL REQUEST RESIDENTS  
  TO STAY OFF THE ROADS IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. 

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO POCONO
  PINES...MOUNTAINHOME...MOUNT POCONO...EAST STROUDSBURG...
  BRODHEADSVILLE...NEWTON...CRANDON LAKES...BRANCHVILLE...BLAIRSTOWN
  AND ANDOVER.

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 4098 7474 4048 7554 4072 7577 4074 7576
      4090 7595 4104 7555 4113 7564 4123 7555
      4125 7514 4116 7517 4115 7510 4108 7502
      4112 7493 4127 7483 4130 7471 4130 7471

$$

JJM

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 18, 3:29 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIChester31 min
Sep 18, 6:09 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHICarbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton4 hr
Sep 18, 7:07 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIBucks, Montgomery4 hr
Sep 18, 10:31 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIChester, Delaware3 hr
Sep 18, 10:57 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIBucks, Montgomery3 hr
Sep 18, 1:45 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIBucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery2 hr
Sep 18, 2:00 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHICarbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton3 hr
Sep 18, 6:22 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIHunterdon, Warren38 min
Sep 18, 6:46 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHISussex3 hr
Sep 18, 7:04 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIHunterdon, Warren86 min
Sep 18, 7:37 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIMorris4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2004Flash Flood Warnings in New Jersey, 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.