Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1986

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 20, 1986Durham County, Wake County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this flash flood warning at Aug 20, 1986, 11:10 AM EDT for Durham County, Wake County, North Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 20, 1986, 11:10 AM EDT (15:10 UTC)
Expired
Aug 20, 1986, 2:00 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Durham County, NC, Wake County, NC

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Cape Hatteras, NC (KHAT), launched 12:00Z, 3.2 hours before the alert went out and 304 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, Cape Hatteras, NC at 12:00Z on 1986-08-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 336 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, Cape Hatteras, NC at 12:00Z on 1986-08-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 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
336 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
547 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
98 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KRDU 201515
FFWRDU
NCC063-183-201800-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
1110 AM EDT WED AUG 20 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 2 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTH CAROLINA...DURHAM AND WAKE

AT 11 AM RADAR AND REPORTS FROM RALEIGH AND DURHAM POLICE INDICATE
THAT HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES OVER DURHAM AND WAKE COUNTIES.  MORE THAN
20 STREETS ARE BLOCKED BY FLOODING IN DURHAM AND FLOOD WATER HAS
ENTERED MANY RESIDENCES.  RADAR SHOWED ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN
AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN WAKE COUNTY NEAR APEX.
THIS ACTIVITY IS MOVING NORTHWARD AND WILL AFFECT DURHAM AND WESTERN
WAKE COUNTY INCLUDING RALEIGH DURHAM AIRPORT AND RESEARCH TRIANGLE
PARK BY NOON.
^
PEOPLE IN THE WARNING AREA SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION
TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY.

YOU ARE REMINDED THAT MANY FLOOD RELATED DEATHS ARE DUE TO MOTORISTS
ATTEMPTING TO CROSS FLOODED ROADWAYS..BRIDGES..AND UNDERPASSES...AND
DUE TO CHILDREN PLAYING NEAR FLOODED STREAMS OR STORM DRAINS.

THE  NEXT STATEMENT ON THIS FLOOD SITUATION WILL BE ISSUED AT 1215 EDT.

JMP

The office that day

Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 20, 10:20 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHDurham100 min
Aug 20, 12:57 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHJohnston, Wilson63 min
Aug 20, 1:13 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHGreene, Wayne62 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 1986Every flash flood warning in 1986

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.