Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Watches in 2018
Flash Flood Watch 15, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood watch at Aug 13, 2018, 1:46 AM EDT for 27 counties in Pennsylvania. It took effect at Aug 13, 2018, 2:00 AM EDT. It was in force for 43 hr.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 13, 2018, 1:46 AM EDT (05:46 UTC)
- In effect from
- Aug 13, 2018, 2:00 AM EDT
- Expired
- Aug 14, 2018, 9:12 PM EDT
- In force
- 43 hr
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Flood severity
- None
All 27 counties
Adams County, PA, Bedford County, PA, Blair County, PA, Cambria County, PA, Centre County, PA, Clinton County, PA, Columbia County, PA, Cumberland County, PA, Dauphin County, PA, Franklin County, PA, Fulton County, PA, Huntingdon County, PA, Juniata County, PA, Lancaster County, PA, Lebanon County, PA, Lycoming County, PA, Mifflin County, PA, Montour County, PA, Northumberland County, PA, Perry County, PA, Schuylkill County, PA, Snyder County, PA, Somerset County, PA, Sullivan County, PA, Tioga County, PA, Union County, PA, York County, PA
The radar
The State College radar (KCCX), 69 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:49 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, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 181 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
- 863 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -25 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 690 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 6 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 22 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this flash 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 flash flood watch went out at Aug 12, 8:48 PM EDT, 4 hours 58 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 12, 8:48 PM EDT, 4 hours 58 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service State College PA 848 PM EDT Sun Aug 12 2018 .SYNOPSIS... A cut off upper low over Lake Erie will slowly lift east across Pennsylvania Monday and Tuesday. A ridge of high pressure will build into the region on Wednesday, followed by the arrival of a weak cold front late in the week. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM MONDAY MORNING/... Heavy rain showers are slowly decresing in intensity this evening. As conditions begin to improve, have allowed FLS and FFW products to expire upon coordination with emergency officials. While the area of heavy caused issues this evening, about 95% of the forecast area enjoyed pleasant and dry conditions. Lift in the favored left exit region of potent upper jet streak will keep slgt chc showers going overnight over the eastern half of the state. Short term, high res HRRR shows another bout of heavy rain over Schuylkill county overnight. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM MONDAY MORNING THROUGH 6 PM MONDAY/... Upper low becomes centered over central PA on Monday. With cool air aloft, combined with diurnal heating and sufficient low level and deep layer moisture, we should see a marked increase in diurnally- driven convection Monday afternoon. Keeping POPs in the likely to categorical ranges for Monday afternoon and evening as a result. Some discussion of locally heavy rainfall threat and while eastern areas appear more prone based on synoptic setup and recent heavy rainfall, want to hold off on any headline issuance to better place a Watch box in the 24 to 30 hour timeframe. The plume of anomalous pwats remain well east of Pa, so the flash flood risk is on the lower side for central and western PA. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/... Not much signal for any large pattern change. Looking at a tendency to semi-phase 3 bundles of energy with time. New 12Z GFS trending toward recent runs of the EC. Same trends all season. Anyway, not a lot of change. For next Sunday, went with mainly the superblend, but lower POPS. Otherwise mainly small changes. Still looking at showers and storms Monday night into Tuesday evening. I did up POPS some across the south central areas Monday night, given POPs, location of the upper lvl low, trends this wet summer season, and to fit in better with others. Wednesday into Thursday still look mainly dry, as weak ridging occurs over western PA. There could be a shower across the far northwest late Wednesday into Thursday morning. Showers and storms more likely late Thursday evening into Friday, as warm advection sets up. Weak cold front moves across the region late Friday, so I still think Saturday will be mainly dry. For Sunday, highest chc of showers and storms looks to be across the south, based on the 00Z EC and comparison of recent runs of several models. && .AVIATION /01Z MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... VFR conditions generally prevail across central PA this evening. While there are some pretty heavy showers and thunderstorms around likely reducing visibilities likely into the IFR range, these have avoided TAF locations. Light winds and low level moisture expected to produce widespread fog and low stratus overnight at most airfields. Problem for Monday is how quickly and efficiently these lower clouds and fog will dissipate, with very light wind flow. Short term guidance suggests that MVFR fog could prevail in the east much of the day. Based on guidance and grids (official forecast) have bumped up all TAFs to include VCSH during the afternoon, with categorical SHRA in KMDT and KLNS in the afternoon. For Monday, convection expected to be more widespread that Sunday. .Outlook... Mon-Tue...AM cig/vsby restrictions likely with slow improvement. Additionally, SHRA/TSRA with associated restrictions especially in the afternoon. Wed...AM fog. Otherwise no six wx. Thu-Fri...AM fog. Otherwise, scattered showers/tstms will bring local restrictions. && .CTP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && SYNOPSIS...DeVoir/Martin NEAR TERM...DeVoir/Tyburski SHORT TERM...DeVoir LONG TERM...Martin AVIATION...Jung
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 12, 6:15 AM EDT, 19 hours 31 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service State College PA 615 AM EDT Sun Aug 12 2018 PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>028-033>037-041-042-045-046-049>053- 056>059-063>066-131015- Warren-McKean-Potter-Elk-Cameron-Northern Clinton-Clearfield- Northern Centre-Southern Centre-Cambria-Blair-Huntingdon-Mifflin- Juniata-Somerset-Bedford-Fulton-Franklin-Tioga-Northern Lycoming- Sullivan-Southern Clinton-Southern Lycoming-Union-Snyder-Montour- Northumberland-Columbia-Perry-Dauphin-Schuylkill-Lebanon-Cumberland- Adams-York-Lancaster- 615 AM EDT Sun Aug 12 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for central Pennsylvania. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday. The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Aug 12, 8:56 PM EDT, 4 hours 50 minutes before
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</html>Local storm report, Aug 12, 8:58 PM EDT, 4 hours 48 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 12, 9:58 PM EDT | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Schuylkill | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 1:53 AM EDT | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Lancaster | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 2:20 AM EDT | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Union | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 2:24 AM EDT | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Schuylkill, York | 4 hr |
| Aug 13, 4:03 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Lancaster | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 4:17 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Columbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Union | 9 hr |
| Aug 13, 4:26 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Dauphin, Lebanon, Schuylkill | 6 hr |
| Aug 13, 5:47 AM EDT | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Sullivan | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 6:05 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Sullivan | 6 hr |
| Aug 13, 6:31 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Columbia | 6 hr |
| Aug 13, 6:34 AM EDT | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Cumberland | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 6:38 AM EDT | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Schuylkill, York | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 6:47 AM EDT | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Lancaster | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 7:04 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Columbia, Lycoming | 6 hr |
| Aug 13, 7:22 AM EDT | River Flood Warning | CTP | Lebanon, Schuylkill | 32 hr |
| Aug 13, 8:12 AM EDT | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Schuylkill | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 9:16 AM EDT | River Flood Warning | CTP | Dauphin, Lebanon | 37 hr |
| Aug 13, 10:01 AM EDT | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Lycoming, Sullivan | 4 hr |
| Aug 13, 10:39 AM EDT | Areal Flood Warning | CTP | Columbia, Dauphin, Lebanon, Northumberland, Schuylkill | 6 hr |
| Aug 13, 11:10 AM EDT | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Somerset | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 11:23 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Lycoming, Sullivan | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 11:58 AM EDT | Areal Flood Warning | CTP | Sullivan | 6 hr |
| Aug 13, 12:03 PM EDT | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Cambria | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 12:05 PM EDT | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Somerset | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 12:51 PM EDT | Areal Flood Warning | CTP | Columbia, Lycoming, Montour | 6 hr |
| Aug 13, 1:05 PM EDT | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Bedford, Franklin, Fulton, Somerset | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 4:03 PM EDT | Special Weather Statement | CTP | Cambria | 27 min |
| Aug 13, 4:32 PM EDT | Areal Flood Warning | CTP | Columbia, Dauphin, Lebanon, Northumberland, Schuylkill | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 5:19 PM EDT | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Centre, Clearfield, Huntingdon | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 5:53 PM EDT | Areal Flood Advisory | CTP | Cumberland, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Perry | 3 hr |
| Aug 13, 6:15 PM EDT | Areal Flood Warning | CTP | Sullivan | 12 hr |
| Aug 13, 6:45 PM EDT | Areal Flood Warning | CTP | Columbia, Lycoming, Montour | 12 hr |
| Aug 13, 7:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Lancaster | 58 min |
| Aug 13, 7:29 PM EDT | Areal Flood Warning | CTP | Columbia, Dauphin, Lebanon, Northumberland, Schuylkill | 3 hr |
Nearby
Flash Flood Watches in Pennsylvania, 2018Every flash flood watch in 2018
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.