Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Blacksburg, VA

February 28, 1987Halifax County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Feb 28, 1987, 9:00 PM EST for Halifax County, Virginia. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Feb 28, 1987, 9:00 PM EST (02:00 UTC)
Expired
Feb 28, 1987, 11:00 PM EST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Halifax County, VA

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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 115 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1987-03-01Temperature 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1987-03-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 537 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
514 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
537 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
628 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 KLYH 010216 RRA
FFWLYH
VAC083-280400-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LYNCHBURG VA
900 PM EST SAT FEB 28 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

VIRIGINIA...HALIFAX

AT 900 PM EST..PUBLIC REPORTS INDICATE THAT STREAMS ARE OVER
FLOWING THEIR BANKS IN THE EXTREME SOUTHERN POTION OF HALIFAX COUNTY
NEAR THE HYCO RIVER. SEVERAL STATE ROADS ARE PARTIALLY UNDER WATER.
ADDITIONAL RAINS TONIGHT WILL CONTINUE THE PROBLEMS

MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS ROADWAYS UNDERWATER AND PERSONS
NEAR STREAMS IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR RISING
WATERS.
       ~
HUDGINS

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, Feb 28, 3:16 PM EST, 5 hours 44 minutes before
^WBCSPSROA

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
315  PM  EST  SUN FEB 28 1987

...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT FOR SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...

THE FLOOD WATCH INCLUDES THE COUNTIES OF BATH...ALLEGHENY...BOTETOURT
...ROANOKE...FRANKLIN...PATRICK AND ALL COUNTIES TO THE WEST. AT THIS
TIME RADAR AND SURFACE REPORTS INDICATES THAT LIGHT TO OCCASIONALLY
MODERATE RAIN CONTINUES TO FALL ACROSS THE WATCH AREA. THE HEAVIEST
RAIN UP TO THIS TIME HAS BEEN IN THE TIER OF COUNTIES THAT BORDER
NORTH CAROLINA. PATRICK...CARROLL AND GRAYSON COUNTIES HAVE RECIEVED
FROM 1 TO 2 INCHES IN THE PAST 6 HOURS. NO REPORTS OF FLOODING HAVE BEEN
RECIEVED YET...BUT SOME SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS ARE REPORTED TO BE NEAR
BANKFULL.

THE GREATEST THREAT IS YET TO COME. THE TEMPERATURE IS EXPECTED TO RISE
LATER TONIGHT AND MORE OF THE RAIN TRAPPED IN THE SNOW COVER WILL RUN
OFF. ADDITIONALLY THERE COULD BE SOME SCATTERED HEAVY SHOWER
ACTIVITY LATER TONIGHT.

MOTORISTS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD DRIVE WITH CAUTION. DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH ANY STANDING OR RUNNING WATER ON THE ROADS.
PEOPLE LIVING IN ANY FLOOD PRONE AREAS SHOULD TAKE NECESSAvRY PRECAUTIONS
TO BE ABLE TO PROTECT THEMSELVES AND THIER PROPERTY. STAY TUNED TO NOAA
WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO OR TV FOR FURTHER REPORTS.

ANY FLOODING SHOULD BE REPORTED TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.

JJ

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 1987Every flash flood warning in 1987

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.