Name: Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, August 26, 2003
Start: 2003-08-26T02:10
End: 2003-08-26T02:40
Location: Pennsylvania

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What forecasters said that day

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 Pittsburgh, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 26, 1:46 AM EST, 24 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 26, 1:46 AM EST, 24 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
246 AM EDT TUE AUG 26 2003

CONVECTION FIRED UP ALONG WARM FRONTAL BOUNDARY DRAPED ROUGHLY ALONG
INTERSTATE 80.  STORMS HAVE BEEN TRAINING THROUGH
MERCER...VENANGO...CLARION...AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES FOR SEVERAL
HOURS.  THE NEXT MCS OVER LAKE ERIE SHOULD ALSO MOVE THROUGH THE
NORTHERN COUNTIES BEFORE SUNRISE BRINGING THE POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING
TO THAT AREA.

AS SUCH...HAVE ISSUED A FLOOD WATCH FOR THE COUNTIES NORTH OF KPIT
VALID UNTIL 10 PM TUESDAY AS ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY NEAR JANESVILLE, WI
MAY HOLD TOGETHER THROUGH THE AT LEAST THE FIRST HALF OF THE DAY AND
CAUSE ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL.

DEWPOINTS IN THE LOW TO MID 70S TODAY WILL KEEP TEMPS FROM SHOOTING
UP MUCH FURTHER THAN YESTERDAYS READINGS.  THIS SOUPY AIRMASS ALONG
WITH OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM THIS MORNINGS CONVECTION CAN SET OFF A
STORMS AT ANY TIME TODAY BUT ARE MORE LIKELY TONIGHT AS FRONTAL
BOUNDARY APPROACHES THE AREA.

EXTENDED LOOKS ON TARGET WITH THE NEXT COLD FRONT POISED TO CROSS
THE AREA LATE FRIDAY BRINGING A LATE SUMMER COOL-DOWN FOR THE
WEEKEND.

PIT   87  70  82  59 /  60  50  40  10
HLG   85  69  82  60 /  60  50  40  10
MGW   85  68  84  62 /  40  50  40  20
ZZV   88  69  83  61 /  50  50  30  20
PHD   88  69  83  61 /  50  50  30  20
FKL   85  68  80  58 /  70  50  40  10
DUJ   85  68  80  58 /  70  50  40  10
LBE   85  69  82  60 /  60  50  40  10
BTP   85  68  80  58 /  70  50  40  10
IDI   85  68  80  58 /  70  50  40  10
ODM   81  66  80  58 /  40  50  40  30

.PBZ...
MD...NONE.
OH...NONE.
PA...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 1000 PM EDT TUESDAY FOR ZONES PAZ007>009...
PAZ013>016...PAZ022>023.

WV...NONE.

TYBURSKI

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 25, 4:00 AM EST, 22 hours 10 minutes before

MDZ001-OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-PAZ007>009-013>016-020>023-
029>032-WVZ001>004-012-021>023-041-250900-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
500 AM EDT MON AUG 25 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
EAST CENTRAL OHIO...NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AND
GARRETT COUNTY MARYLAND.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

.SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ON TUESDAY AND AGAIN ON
WEDNESDAY AS A COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE REGION.  SOME OF THESE
STORMS MAY BY STRONG TO SEVERE.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 25, 9:12 PM EST, 4 hours 58 minutes before

PAZ013-014-022-260400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
1012 PM EDT MON AUG 25 2003

...NEWLY DEVELOPED THUNDERSTORMS...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED
THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER LAWRENCE, BUTLER, AND ARMSTRONG
COUNTIES.  THEY ARE MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT 20 MPH.

VERY HEAVY RAINFALL, HAIL, AND GUSTY WINDS ARE ALL LIKLEY WITH THESE
THUNDERSTORMS.  ALSO, FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURING,
SO POWER OUTAGES ARE POSSIBLE.

WHEN THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES, MOVE INDOORS.  YOUR CAR OFFERS
GOOD LIGHTNING PROTECTION.

REHAK

Local storm report, Aug 25, 11:24 PM EST, 2 hours 46 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1224 AM EDT TUE AUG 26 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1135 PM    WEST KITTANNING           PA   WIND DAMAGE
08/26/03   ARMSTRONG                      LARGE TREES BLOWN DOWN
                                          ALONG PINE HILL
                                          ROAD.REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
                                          MANAGEMENT

1215 AM    WEST KITTANNING           PA   FLASH FLOODS
08/26/03   ARMSTRONG                      NUMEROUS ROADS AND
                                          BASEMENTS FLOODED.REPORTED
                                          BY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:10 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Armstrong

When: August 26, 2:10 AM EST to 2:40 AM EST
Where: Armstrong County, 3 mi S of West Kittanning
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 40.812, -79.464 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ridge Road flooded.

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, August 2003

Sources

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: 5334254.