Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flood Watches in 2015
Flood Watch 1, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this flood watch at Mar 4, 2015, 3:02 AM EST for 5 counties in Pennsylvania. It was in force for 16 hr.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 4, 2015, 3:02 AM EST (08:02 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 4, 2015, 7:00 PM EST
- In force
- 16 hr
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Flood severity
- None
Counties Bedford County, PA, Blair County, PA, Cambria County, PA, Clearfield County, PA, Somerset County, PA
The radar
The State College radar (KCCX), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:02 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
Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 191 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 909 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 89 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 904 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 1059 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this flood watch went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS State College, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flood watch went out at Mar 4, 2:12 AM EST, 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 4, 2:12 AM EST, 50 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 212 AM EST WED MAR 4 2015 .SYNOPSIS... LOW PRESSURE WILL TRACK NORTH OF PENNSYLVANIA THIS MORNING...AS ITS TRAILING COLD FRONT SAGS SOUTH THROUGH THE REGION. A WAVE OF LOW PRESSURE WILL TRACK SOUTH OF PENNSYLVANIA LATE TODAY INTO THURSDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD SOUTHEAST INTO THE STATE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 7 AM THIS MORNING/... DID ADJUST THE ADVISORY SOME...CLEARFIELD STILL NEAR 32...WHILE OTHER SITES ABOVE 32. OVERALL THE LL JET AND ASSOC PUSH OF WARM AIR ALOFT HAS CHANGED PRECIP TO PLAIN RAIN OVR MUCH OF THE ALLEGHENY PLATEAU AS OF 07Z. MEANWHILE...FZRA CONTINUES TO FALL ACROSS PORTIONS OF CENTRAL PA. WHILE AIR TEMPERATURES ARE JUST ABOVE FREEZING...GROUND TEMPERATURES STILL COLD. MDL SOUNDINGS...AS WELL AS THE LATEST GUIDANCE...CONTINUE TO INDICATE THE LOW LVL COLD AIR WILL ERODE FROM WEST TO EAST...WITH THE LAST OF THE FZRA ENDING ACROSS THE REGION BY SUNRISE. FAR SW PART OF THE CWA ABOVE FREEZING...KEEPING AN EYE ON THE RAINFALL...AS WE ALREADY HAVE WATER OVER SOME ROADS AS OF LATE EVENING. && .SHORT TERM /7 AM THIS MORNING THROUGH 6 PM THURSDAY/... SFC FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL SAG SOUTH OF PA BY LATE WEDNESDAY. CONCERN IS THAT RATHER COLD AIR AT LOW LEVELS WILL WORK IN...AT THE SAME TIME THAT ENERGY FROM THE SW WILL RESULT IN MORE PCPN. MORE DETAILS BELOW. MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW AN AMPLIFIED AND MOIST SW FLOW ALOFT AND JET ENTRANCE REGION DYNAMICS SUPPORTING A BROAD STRIPE OF PCPN ALONG A WELL DEFINED BAROCLINIC ZONE AHEAD OF PHASING UPPER LEVEL ENERGY OVER THE DSW/ROCKIES TODAY AND MOVING EWD THROUGH THE OH VLY AND MID ATLC ON THURSDAY. SEVERAL WAVES OF LOW PRESSURE ARE FCST TO DEVELOP AND MOVE ENEWD ALONG A SW-NE ORIENTED COLD FRONT WHICH SHOULD PROGRESS AND SETTLE SEWD THROUGH THE MID ATLC REGION BY EARLY THURS...AS ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE UPPER PLAINS. AMPLE MOISTURE IS FCST BY THE MODELS TO MOVE INTO A DEEPENING COLD SECTOR ALONG/NORTH OF THE SEWD-ADVANCING COLD FRONTAL BOUNDARY WHICH COULD RESULT IN A LATE SEASON HEAVY SNOW EVENT FOR SOUTH CENTRAL PA WED NGT INTO THURS. THERE ARE MODEL DIFFERENCES WITH THE TIMING OF THE FRONT WHICH IS LKLY TIED TO THE CONSOLIDATION OF SHORTWAVE ENERGY UPSTREAM. THAT SAID...THE CONSENSUS FCST AXIS OF MAX QPF /0.50 INCH OR GREATER/ HAS BEEN FAIRLY CONSISTENT PAINTED OVER THE SRN 1/3 OF THE CWA. SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY...USED A MULTI MODEL BLEND WITH PSEUDO BIAS CORRECTION FACTOR TO DERIVE GRIDDED QPF AMTS WHICH GENERALLY RANGE FROM 0.25 TO 0.75 INCHES ACROSS THE SRN 1/2 OF THE CWA. THE COLUMN WILL BE IN A STATE OF TRANSITION AND COOLING DOWN FROM NW TO SE WED-WED NGT AS THE COLD FRONT PUSHES SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE AREA. THIS SHOULD SUPPORT A TRANSITION FROM RAIN TO SNOW. A PERIOD OF SLEET MAY IMPACT FCST SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WITH THE DURATION A KEY FACTOR IN THIS FCST. WITH INCREASING CONFIDENCE AND GREATEST RISK IN THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY SNOW/6+ INCHES...WHICH IS SUPPORTED BY ROBUST WPC ENSEMBLE AS WELL AS THE GEFS MEAN...HAVE ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THE SOUTH-CENTRAL COUNTIES FROM WEDNESDAY EVENING THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING. HOWEVER...LINGERING PRECIP REMAINS LIKELY ACROSS SOUTHERN PA IN REGION OF 8-7H FGEN FORCING. MDL BLYR TEMPS INDICATE PRECIP WILL FALL AS LGT RAIN ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST COUNTIES. HOWEVER...MDL SOUNDINGS JUST COLD ENOUGH TO SUPPORT A RAIN/SNOW MIX ACROSS THE LAUREL HIGHLANDS...WHERE A LIGHT ACCUM OF UP TO AN INCH APPEARS POSSIBLE BY WED EVENING. DRIER AIR ACROSS NORTHERN PA SHOULD TRANSLATE TO A MAINLY DRY DAY THERE WITH JUST A CHC OF -SHSN. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... AN ACTIVE LATE-WINTER PRECIPITATION PATTERN WILL IMPACT CENTRAL PA THROUGH MIDWEEK FOLLOWED BY WHAT IS HOPEFULLY THE LAST SHOT OF ARCTIC AIR FOR THE SEASON THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. THE PATTERN SHOULD DRY OUT LATE IN THE WEEK THROUGH THE UPCOMING WEEKEND WITH HIGH PRESSURE IN CONTROL MOST OF THE TIME. THE GENERAL MODEL AND ENSEMBLE CONSENSUS IS TO MAINTAIN A RIDGE IN THE WEST AND TROUGH IN THE EAST THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH SOME SIGNS OF A PATTERN SHIFT BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK WITH TROUGHING FCST TO DEVELOP ALONG THE WEST COAST. BELOW NORMAL TEMPS SHOULD MODERATE CLOSER TO NORMAL EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH SOME HINTS AT EVEN WARMER TEMPS LATER NEXT WEEK. WHAT IS HOPEFULLY THE LAST SHOT OF ARCTIC AIR THIS SEASON SHOULD ARRIVE BEHIND THE COLD FRONT. FRIDAY MORNING LOWS ARE LKLY TO BE 20-30F BELOW NORMAL WITH SINGLE DIGIT LOWS +/- ZERO DEGREES. SUCH READINGS MAY BREAK DAILY RECORDS. && .AVIATION /07Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... 03Z TAFS SENT. MAINLY RAIN NOW IN MOST AREAS. EARLIER DISCUSSION BELOW. A WARM FRONT LIFTING NE FROM THE OH VLY WILL KEEP A LARGE AREA OF FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA THIS EVENING. JST WARM ENOUGH FOR JUST RAIN...BUT GROUND AND OBJECT TEMPS LIKELY STILL COLD. THE OTHER FACTOR OVERNIGHT WILL BE LLWS. THE PRECIPITATION WILL LIKELY GO OVER TO JUST RAIN LATE TONIGHT FOR A SHORT TIME. MANY AREAS MAY JUST SEE NOTHING ONCE THE STRONGER WARM ADVECTION SHUTS OFF. FOR WED...RAIN WILL GO BACK TO SNOW FROM NW TO SE. HARD TO SEE CONDITIONS BEING VERY GOOD. VERY COLD LOW LEVEL AIR WILL BE ADVECTED BACK TO THE SOUTH LATE WED INTO THU. A SERIES OF WEAK LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS WILL TRACK ALONG THE COLD FRONT FROM LATE WED INTO THU...LIKELY GIVING AT LEAST SOUTHERN PA SOME SNOW. THE COMBINATION OF INCREASING WINDS...SNOW...AND FALLING TEMPERATURES WILL LIKELY RESULT IN POOR CONDITIONS FOR AVIATION. IMPROVING CONDITIONS WILL SET IN FOR FRIDAY INTO MONDAY...AS COLD HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE AREA. OUTLOOK... WED NIGHT...SIG REDUCTIONS IN SNOW DEVELOPING MAINLY ACROSS THE SOUTH. THU...SLOWLY IMPROVING CONDITIONS...LINGERING MVFR NW AND SE. FRI-SAT...MAINLY VFR. SUN...MVFR WITH CHC -SHSN MAINLY NORTH AND WEST. VFR SE. && .CTP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 7 AM EST THIS MORNING FOR PAZ006- 011-012-017>019-025>028-034>037-041-042-045-046-049>053- 056>059-063>066. WINTER STORM WATCH FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING FOR PAZ024>028-033>036-056>059-063>066. && SYNOPSIS...FITZGERALD/MARTIN NEAR TERM...FITZGERALD/MARTIN SHORT TERM...FITZGERALD/MARTIN/STEINBUGL LONG TERM...MARTIN/STEINBUGL AVIATION...MARTIN
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 4, 1:30 AM EST, 1 hour 32 minutes before
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</html>The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 3, 10:39 PM EST | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Clearfield, Somerset | 4 hr |
| Mar 4, 2:28 AM EST | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Clearfield, Somerset | 16 hr |
| Mar 4, 4:13 AM EST | Winter Storm Warning | CTP | Adams, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Cumberland, Dauphin and 11 more | 39 hr |
| Mar 4, 5:24 AM EST | Areal Flood Warning | CTP | Cambria | 6 hr |
| Mar 4, 9:41 AM EST | Winter Weather Advisory | CTP | Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Columbia and 14 more | 30 hr |
| Mar 4, 2:59 PM EST | River Flood Warning | CTP | Somerset | 7 hr |
| Mar 4, 6:42 PM EST | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Somerset | 3 hr |
Nearby
Flood Watches in Pennsylvania, 2015Every flood watch in 2015
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.