Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Watches in 2020

Flash Flood Watch 9, NWS State College, PA

August 12, 2020Lancaster County, York County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this flash flood watch at Aug 12, 2020, 3:09 AM EDT for Lancaster County, York County, Pennsylvania. It took effect at Aug 12, 2020, 12:00 PM EDT. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 12, 2020, 3:09 AM EDT (07:09 UTC)
In effect from
Aug 12, 2020, 12:00 PM EDT
Expired
Aug 12, 2020, 7:05 PM EDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Flood severity
None

Counties Lancaster County, PA, York County, PA

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 141 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:11 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, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 139 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 2020-08-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1124 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 2020-08-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1124 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1414 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

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 Aug 12, 2:54 AM EDT, 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 12, 2:54 AM EDT, 15 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 11, 4:12 AM EDT, 22 hours 57 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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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 3:42 PM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryCTPLancaster, York3 hr
Aug 12, 4:15 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPLancaster, York2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Watches in Pennsylvania, 2020Every flash flood watch in 2020

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.