Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Watches in 2018

Flash Flood Watch 17, NWS State College, PA

October 2, 201813 counties in Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood watch at Oct 2, 2018, 1:12 PM EDT for 13 counties in Pennsylvania. It took effect at Oct 2, 2018, 2:00 PM EDT. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 2, 2018, 1:12 PM EDT (17:12 UTC)
In effect from
Oct 2, 2018, 2:00 PM EDT
Expired
Oct 2, 2018, 9:45 PM EDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Flood severity
None

Counties Centre County, PA, Clearfield County, PA, Clinton County, PA, Columbia County, PA, Lycoming County, PA, McKean County, PA, Montour County, PA, Northumberland County, PA, Potter County, PA, Snyder County, PA, Sullivan County, PA, Tioga County, PA, Union County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:14 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

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 5.2 hours before the alert went out and 221 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 2018-10-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 13 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 2018-10-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 205 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
13 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-93 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
476 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
205 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
232 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 Oct 2, 11:35 AM EDT, 1 hour 37 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 2, 11:35 AM EDT, 1 hour 37 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 2, 10:59 AM EDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before
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<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
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      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 2, 11:07 AM EDT, 2 hours 5 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service State College PA
1107 AM EDT TUE OCT 2 2018

PAZ004-005-021545-
McKean PA-Warren PA-
1107 AM EDT TUE OCT 2 2018

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT PARTS OF WARREN AND MCKEAN
COUNTIES UNTIL 1145 AM EDT...

At 1106 AM EDT, Doppler radar indicated strong thunderstorms along a
line extending from near Bradford to near Chapman State Park.
Movement was east at 40 mph.

Winds in excess of 40 mph are possible.

Locations impacted include...
Warren, Bradford, Port Allegany, Sheffield, Smethport, Shinglehouse,
Rew, Coryville, Crosby, Cyclone, Ludlow, Marshburg, Westline, Kinzua
Bridge State Park, Kinzua Dam, Chapman State Park, Warren South,
Mount Jewett, Eldred and Lewis Run.

LAT...LON 4185 7821 4170 7839 4171 7939 4200 7882
      4200 7820
TIME...MOT...LOC 1506Z 269DEG 34KT 4198 7860 4174 7920

RXR

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 2, 11:07 AM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPMcKean38 min
Oct 2, 1:20 PM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryCTPPotter3 hr
Oct 2, 1:59 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPTioga61 min
Oct 2, 2:48 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPTioga42 min
Oct 2, 3:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPTioga42 min
Oct 2, 3:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPWarren79 min
Oct 2, 3:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPPotter, Tioga96 min
Oct 2, 3:27 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPLycoming33 min
Oct 2, 3:38 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPWarren67 min
Oct 2, 3:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPColumbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Sullivan57 min
Oct 2, 3:51 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPColumbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland54 min
Oct 2, 3:59 PM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryCTPPotter, Tioga3 hr
Oct 2, 4:05 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPMcKean55 min
Oct 2, 4:06 PM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryCTPWarren3 hr
Oct 2, 4:15 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPPotter, Tioga45 min
Oct 2, 4:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPFranklin, Huntingdon56 min
Oct 2, 4:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCameron, Clearfield, Elk64 min
Oct 2, 4:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPElk49 min
Oct 2, 4:26 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPColumbia, Lycoming, Montour49 min
Oct 2, 4:42 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPClearfield63 min
Oct 2, 4:48 PM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedCTPLycoming, Tioga42 min
Oct 2, 4:49 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPSullivan26 min
Oct 2, 4:54 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPTioga36 min
Oct 2, 5:02 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPClearfield, Elk43 min
Oct 2, 5:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCumberland58 min
Oct 2, 5:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLycoming, Tioga36 min
Oct 2, 5:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Potter93 min
Oct 2, 5:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLycoming, Sullivan34 min
Oct 2, 5:32 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPClearfield58 min
Oct 2, 5:33 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPLycoming, Tioga42 min
Oct 2, 5:39 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPLycoming, Sullivan66 min
Oct 2, 5:56 PM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryCTPLycoming, Tioga3 hr
Oct 2, 6:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPSomerset32 min
Oct 2, 6:19 PM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryCTPClearfield, Elk3 hr
Oct 2, 6:25 PM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryCTPLycoming, Sullivan3 hr
Oct 2, 6:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCentre, Clinton, Union53 min
Oct 2, 6:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPColumbia, Sullivan21 min
Oct 2, 7:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCentre, Clearfield90 min
Oct 2, 7:13 PM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryCTPCameron, Centre, Clinton3 hr
Oct 2, 7:44 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPNorthumberland31 min
Oct 2, 7:53 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPColumbia, Lycoming, Sullivan3 hr
Oct 2, 7:57 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementCTPSnyder33 min
Oct 2, 7:59 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPCentre, Clearfield3 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.