Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1986

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Charleston, WV

July 2, 1986Randolph County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Jul 2, 1986, 4:40 AM EDT for Randolph County, West Virginia. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 2, 1986, 4:40 AM EDT (08:40 UTC)
Expired
Jul 2, 1986, 7:40 AM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Randolph County, WV

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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 183 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 1986-07-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 1986-07-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 93 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
93 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KEKN 020840
FFWEKN
WVC083-021140-

BULLETIN-EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKINS WV
440 AM EDT WED JUL 2 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 740 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

WEST VIRGINIA...RANDOLPH.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR HAS BEEN REPORTED
TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS AS REQUIRED.

HEAVY RAINS HAVE BEEN FALLING OVER MUCH OF RANDOLPH COUNTY WITH ALMOST
AN INCH AT THE ELKINS AIRPORT IN THE LAST HALF HOUR. RADAR INDICATES
HEAVY RAIN SOUTHWEST OF RANDOLPH COUNTY MOVING NORTHEAST...THIS
ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL PRODUCE LOCAL FLOODING...MOTORISTS SHOULD BE
CAUTIOUS AND NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS ROADWAYS COVERED WITH FAST MOVING
WATER...PERSONS NEAR AREAS THAT ARE PRONE TO FLOODING SHOULD BE ON THE
ALERT FOR FAST RISING WATERS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 1, 11:08 PM EDT, 5 hours 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTINGTON WV
1108 PM EDT TUE JUL 01 1986

AT 1108 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED THE HEAVIEST
SHOWERS OVER LEWIS COUNTY AND GREENUP COUNTY KENTUCKY AND OVER ADAMS
AND LAWRENCE COUNTY OHIO.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
ARE FORECAST FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT.

THE GROUND ACROSS THIS AREA HAS HAD FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN IN
THE PAST 24 H[OURS. ANOTHER 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN COULD
CAUSE SOME SMALL STREAMS TO OVERFLOW THEIR BANKS AND POSSIBLE
URBAN FLOODING.

SHUFF
Special weather statement, Jul 2, 12:48 AM EDT, 3 hours 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTINGTON WV
1245 AM EDT WED JUL 02 1986

STRONG THUNDERSTORM CONTINUE TO MOVE EASTWARD OVER NORTHEAST KENTUCKY
...ADJACENT SOUTHERN OHIO AND WESTERN WEST VIRGINIA...NEAR THE OHIO
RIVER AND ARE BRINGING BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS TO THIS AREA.

THE GROUND ACROSS THIS AREA HAS HAD FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN IN
THE PAST 24 HOURS. ANOTHER 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN COULD
CAUSE SOME SMALL STREAMS TO OVERFLOW TwHEIR BANKS AND POSSIBLE
URBAN FLOODING.

DANGEROUS LIGHTING...STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN
MAY ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS.

HANEY
Special weather statement, Jul 2, 2:39 AM EDT, 2 hours 1 minute before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
235 AM EDT WED JUL 02 1986

WEATHER RADAR IN CHARLESTON SHOWED MODERATE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
LOCATED FROM THE HUNTINGTON AREA EASTWARD TO THE GREATER CHARLESTON
AREA TO NEAR SUTTON. THESE SHOWERS WERE MOVING EAST AT NEAR 35 MILES
AN HOUR.

URBAN FLOODING WILL LIKELY OCCUR WITH THE HEAVIER OF THESE STORMS WITH
A HALF INCH TO AN INCH OF RAIN FALLING IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. OTHER
PRONE AREAS WILL ALSO LIKELY HAVE PROBLEMS AS THESE STORMS PASS THROUGH
WEST CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA.

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR SECTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
THIS MORNING.

END/CAIN
Special weather statement, Jul 2, 4:00 AM EDT, 40 minutes before
^CRWSPSEKN

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE - ELKINS, WV
400 AM EDT WED JUL 2 1986

 ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 AM THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING...

AT 400 AM EDT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWS A LARGE AREA OF
MODERATE RAIN MOVING INTO THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE WATCH AREA.

THE GROUND IS STILL SATURATED FROM HEAVY RAINS TUESDAY MORNING.
STREAMS AND RIVERS ARE STILL RUNNING ABOVE NORMAL OVER MUCH OF THE
NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE WATCH AREA.

THOSE LIVING ALONG FLOOD PRONE SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD CHECK
WATER LEVELS THROUGH THIS MORNING IF MORE RAIN FALLS. REMEMBER...A
FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS FLOODING IS POSSIBLE ALONG SMALL STREAMS AND
CREEKS.

THE WEATHER SERVICE WILL BE MONITORING THE HEADWATER RIVERS. THE UPPER
PORTIONS OF THE TYGART VALLEY AND CHEAT RIVERS WERE RECEDING AGAIN
THIS MORNING. WIDESPREAD RAIN OF OVER 1 INCH WOULD BE NEEDED IN THE
TYGART AND CHEAT RIVER BASIN TO CAUSE A RIVER PROBLEM TODAY.

END/PURDY

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 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.