1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The local office's own words before the first event, 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 the first event at Aug 2, 8:20 PM EST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 920 PM EDT SAT AUG 02 2003 APPROX 30-MILE WIDE BAND OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING VERY SLOWLY EAST ACROSS THE WEST BRANCH SUSQ VALLEY AND SOUTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF PENNSYLVANIA THIS EVENING. RAINFALL RATES HAVE BEGUN TO SLOW A BIT AFTER PEAKING AT 1.5 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR AROUND 00Z. 18Z ETA SUGGESTS THAT THE LLVL FOCUS FOR HEAVY RAIN (SFC-850 HPA THETA-E CONVERGENCE AND INSTABILITY) WILL SHIFT TO THE EXTREME SOUTH CENTRAL PA COUNTIES BY 06Z...WHILE GRADUALLY DIMINISHING ELSEWHERE. THEREFORE...WILL BE UPDATING THE FORECAST THIS EVENING TO CANCEL THE FLOOD WATCH THAT RAN UNTIL 04Z FOR THE NRN AND WESTERN MTNS OF MY CWA. SHORT TERM FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE VALUES ACROSS THE EXTREME SCENT COUNTIES ARE ON THE ORDER OF 2.5 AND 4 INCHES FOR 1 AND 3 HOURS RESPECTIVELY. BASED ON THIS (AND EXPECTED MAX RAINS OVERNIGHT OF ANOTHER INCH OR TWO) THERE IS NO NEED TO ISSUE A FLOOD WATCH FOR THIS AREA. ANY FLOODING PROBLEMS THAT OCCUR OVERNIGHT WOULD LIKELY BE ON THE MINOR SIDE..AND AFFECT JUST POOR DRAINAGE AREAS AND SMALL STREAMS. THIS CAN BE ADDRESSED WITH THE ISSUANCE OF URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD STATEMENTS (PRODUCT ID = FLSCTP). 700 HPA TEMPS CONTINUE TO BE ABOUT A DEG OR TWO C WARMER ACROSS THE EASTERN ZONES FOR SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH BEST JET DYNAMICS...INSTABILITY...AND LLVL MOISTURE CONVERGENCE ACROSS THE WESTERN THIRD OF PENN. WELL LIKELY SEE A VERY SIMILAR EVOLUTION OF CONVECTION DURING THE MID TO LATE AFTERNOON ACROSS THE WESTERN MTNS. THE STORMS WILL SLOWLY PROGRESS EAST TO NEAR A KIPT...KUNV AND KAOO LINE BY 23Z SUNDAY WITH LOCALIZED HEAVY RAIN (PWATS PROGGED AROUND 1.75)...AND ISOLATED SVR POTENTIAL VIA SFC BASED CAPES OF 1000-1500 J/KG AND 0-3KM HELICITY OF 125-150 M2/S2. LATE AFTERNOON FCST MIN/MAX TEMPS AND POPS BELOW MDT 71 86 71 84 / 30 40 50 40 IPT 70 83 68 81 / 60 50 50 40 BFD 61 79 62 75 / 50 50 50 40 JST 66 79 62 76 / 60 50 50 40 AOO 68 82 65 79 / 60 50 50 40 UNV 67 81 67 79 / 60 50 50 40 SEG 70 83 68 82 / 50 40 50 40 LNS 72 86 71 84 / 30 40 50 40 THV 71 85 71 83 / 30 40 50 40 .CTP... PA...NONE. LAMBERT
PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>028-033>037-041-042-045-046-049>053- 056>059-063>066-020930- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 336 AM EDT SAT AUG 2 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY DENSE FOG WILL BLANKET THE CENTRAL RIDGE AND VALLEY REGION THIS MORNING. EXPECT VISIBILITIES TO BE LESS THAN A QUARTER OF A MILE IN MANY SPOTS. CITIES LIKE WILLIAMSPORT...STATE COLLEGE AND ALTOONA CAN EXPECT THE MOST DENSE FOG. THE FOG WILL BURN AWAY DURING THE MORNING HOURS. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL FIRE UP IN THE AFTERNOON...ESPECIALLY OVER THE ALLEGHENY AND LAUREL MOUNTAINS. THE STORMS MAY MOVE VERY SLOWLY AND COULD PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. LOCAL MINOR FLOODING PROBLEMS WILL MOST LIKELY OCCUR...BUT WIDESPREAD FLOODING PROBLEMS ARE NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. A FEW OF THE STORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING MAY ALSO PRODUCE LARGE HAIL OR DAMAGING WIND GUSTS...ESPECIALLY OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF THE STATE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE IN THE FORECAST THROUGH THURSDAY. THE ALMOST CONSTANT THREAT OF RAIN WILL INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF FLOODING PROBLEMS THROUGH MID WEEK. HOWEVER...AT THIS TIME...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. DANGELO
PAZ019-026-027-030030- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 731 PM EDT SAT AUG 2 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT HUNTINGDON...MIFFLIN AND CENTRE COUNTIES THIS EVENING... AT 730 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 7 MILES NORTHEAST OF BELLEFONTE TO 4 MILES SOUTH OF BELLEFONTE TO STATE COLLEGE TO 10 MILES NORTH OF HUNTINGDON...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR CENTRE HALL AT 740 PM...WHIPPLE DAM STATE PARK AT 745 PM...POTTERS MILLS AT 800 PM...REBERSBURG AT 810 PM...SEVEN MOUNTAINS...POE VALLEY STATE PARK AT 815 PM AND MILLHEIM AT 820 PM. VERY HEAVY RAIN WILL FALL...AND POSSIBLY CAUSE WATER TO POND ON ROADS AND QUICKLY FILL ROADSIDE DITCHES AND SMALL STREAMS. WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH AND SMALL HAIL ARE ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. EXPECT FREQUENT...INTENSE CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING FROM THE STORMS. DO NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER TREES OR STAY IN THE OPEN WHEN LIGHTNING THREATENS. STAY OFF THE TELEPHONE AND AWAY FROM ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNTIL AFTER THE STORMS HAVE PASSED. LAMBERT
The State College radar (KCCX), 110 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:30 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorms produced nearly 4 inches of rain across portions of Bedford county, causing rapid innundation of several roads in Bedford county. Included were Routes 26, 31 and 96.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, August 2003
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5368876.