Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987

Flash Flood Warning 15, NWS Blacksburg, VA

April 24, 1987Rockingham County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Apr 24, 1987, 5:00 PM EDT for Rockingham County, North Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 24, 1987, 5:00 PM EDT (21:00 UTC)
Expired
Apr 24, 1987, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Rockingham 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 37 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 12:00Z on 1987-04-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 11 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1987-04-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 115 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
11 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-52 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
567 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
128 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 KGSO 242105
FFWGSO
NCC157-250000-

BULLETIN-IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
500 PM EDT FRI APR 24 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE
UNTIL 800 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY IN

NORTH CAROLINA...ROCKINGHAM

AT 445 PM EDT EDEN POLICE REPORTED THAT THE DAN RIVER HAS COME
OUT OF ITS BANKS AGAIN.  MATRIMONY CREEK AT THE DAN RIVER WAS
ALSO OUT OF ITS BANKS. THE WATER WAS OVER SOME ROADWAYS IN THE EDEN
AREA..BUT SO FAR HAS NOT THREATENED ANY HOMES.

THE RAIN OVER ROCKINGHAM COUNTY IS CLOSE TO ENDING BUT ADDITIONAL
RUNOFF IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE MAKE THE WATER RISE UNTIL ABOUT 8 PM.
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR HAS BEEN
REPORTED.  PERSONS IN THE WARNING AREA SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION.

PERSONS IN THE WARNING AREA SHOULD NOT TRY TO WALK OR DRIVE ACROSS FAST
FLOWING WATERS. PERSONS IN LOW LYING AREAS WHERE FLOODING IS OCCURRING\
OR EXPECTED SHOULD GET TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY..IF POSSIBLE.

THE EARLIER FLOOD WARNING FOR STOKES COUNTY WILL BE ALLOWED TO EXPIRE
AT 600 PM AS NO NEW FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED.

RBN

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, Apr 24, 11:27 AM EDT, 5 hours 33 minutes before
^WBCSPSROA

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
1120 AM  EDT  FRI APR 24 1987

         ...ROANOKE RIVER CONTINUES TO RISE AT ROANOKE...

AT 11 AM THE ROANOKE RIVER AT THE WALNUT STREET BRIDGE IN ROANOKE
HAD REACHED 7.6 FT AND WAS STILL RISING. THE RIVER IS EXPECTED TO
REACH A TEMPORARY CREST BY 3 PM AROUND 9 FT..WHICH IS ONLY ONE FT
BELOW FLOOD STAGE.

HOWEVER..MORE RAIN IS ON THE WAY AND MAY CONTINUE OFF AND ON INTO
TONIGHT. THE RAIN COULD BE MODERATE TO HEAVY AT TIMES. IF SO..THE
ROANOKE RIVER WILL LIKELY RISE PAST THE FLOOD STAGE WITH MODERATE
FLOODING OCCURRING BY MIDNIGHT. THOSE PERSONS OR BUSINESSES ALONG
THE RIVER AND MAJOR TRIBUTARIES SUCH AS MASONS ANxD TINKER CREEK
ARE URGED TO STAY TUNED TO NOAA RADIO AND TELEVISION OR RADIO TO
KEEP ABREAST OF THE SITUATION. $$
HM
Special weather statement, Apr 24, 1:21 PM EDT, 3 hours 39 minutes before
^WBCSPSROA

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
115PM    EDT  FRI APR 24 1987

         ...ROANOKE RIVER APPROACHING TEMPORARY CREST...

AT 1 PM THE ROANOKE RIVER AT THE WALNUT STREET BRIDGE WAS JUST
BELOW 8 FT.  IT IS STILL RISING..BUT SLOWLY.. AND APPEARS TO BE
HEADING FOR A MIDAFTERNOON CREST OF ABOUT 9 FT..STILL BELOW FLOOD
STAGE WHICH IS 10 FT.

MORE RAIN IS FALLING AND WILL LIKELY CONTINUE OFF AND ON INTO TONIGHT.
IN FACT..A HEAVY SHOWER WAS OBSERVED ALONG THE NORTH FORK OF THE
RIVER THE PAST HOUR. THE RIVER SHOULD REMAIN MORE OR LESS STEADY THE
REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON..BUT WITH MORE RAIN COMING IT WILL LIKELY
RESUME A RISE TO A FOOT OR TWO PAST FLOOD STAGE BY TOMORROW MORNING.
MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR MEDIA SOURCES FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS OR
A WARNING IF IT BECOMES NECESSARY.$$
MCINTOSH

                                                              7
Special weather statement, Apr 24, 4:27 PM EDT, 33 minutes before
^WBCSPSROA

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
425 PM   EDT  FRI APR 24 1987

...SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE LEVEL TO RISE...

ACCORDING TO AN APCO SPOKESMAN...AND BASED ON CURRENT RAINFALL
PROJECTIONS...APCO ESTIMATES THE LEVEL OF THE SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE
AT THE DAM WILL BE 3 TO 4 FT ABOVE THE FULL POOL ELEVATION OF
795 FT BETWEEN SATURDAY EVENING AND SUNDAY MORNING.

HOMEOWNERS AND BOATOWNERS THERE THAT NEED TO ATTEND TO ITOEMS
ARE URGED TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTIONS TO PROTECT PROPERTY.

HM/TE

The office that day

Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 24, 1:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKRowan54 min
Apr 24, 2:50 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKStokes3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 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.