Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987

Flash Flood Warning 18, NWS Blacksburg, VA

September 7, 1987Bedford County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 7, 1987, 12:55 PM EDT for Bedford County, Virginia. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 7, 1987, 12:55 PM EDT (16:55 UTC)
Expired
Sep 7, 1987, 2:00 PM EDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Bedford 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 12:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 141 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 1987-09-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 497 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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 1987-09-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 57 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 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
497 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
550 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
88 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 071655
FFWLYH
VAC019-515-071800-

FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LYNCHBURG VA
1255 PM EDT MON SEP 7 1987

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

VIRGINIA...BEDFORD...AND THE CITY OF BEDFORD

AT 1250 PM EDT RADAR AND SHERIFFS REPORTS INDICATED HEAVY RAIN AND 
SMALL STREAM FLOODING IN BEDFORD COUNTY VIRGINIA. SMALL STREAMS
AND LOW LYING AREAS WILL CONTINUE TO FLOOD FOR THE NEXT  HOUR
UNTIL THE RAIN TAPERS OFF.

PEOPLE IN THE WARNED AREAS SHOULD MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY
IMMEDIATELY.

KGH

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, Sep 7, 8:30 AM EDT, 4 hours 25 minutes before
^WBCSPSROA

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
825 AM   EDT  MON SEP 7  1987

...HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS IN SOUTHWEST
VIRGINIA..

AT 8 AM EDT RADAR INDICATED HEAVY THUNDESTORMS OVER NORTHERN HENRY
AND SOUTHERN FRANKLIN IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA MOVING NORTH AT ABOUT
25 MPH.

THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND POSSIBLE
URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING.

CG

                                                                             [
Special weather statement, Sep 7, 10:03 AM EDT, 2 hours 52 minutes before
^WBCSPSROA

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
1000 AM  EDT  MON SEP 7  1987

...VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE ALONG THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS IN
SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...

AT 10 AM EDT RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY THUNDESTORMS OVER NORTHWESTERN
HENRY...NORTHERN FRANKLIN AND WESTERN BEDFORD COUTNIES MOVING TO THE
NORTH AT ABOUT 25 MPH. WHILE THESE STORMS WERE PRODUCING HEAVY RAINS
THE COVERAGE OF THE HEAVY STORMS HAD DECREASED DURING THE PAST HOUR
AS THEY MOVED OVER THE MOUNTAINS.

RAINFALL AMOUNTS REPORTED FROM THE ROCKY MOUNT AREA: 1.6 TO 2.25 INCHES
FROM 7AM TO 915 AM AND 4.5 TO 5 INCHES OVERALL SINCE SATURDAY.
FORTUNATELY WITH THE LONG DRY SPELL BEFORE THESE RAI1NS ONLY POSSIBLE
URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME WHERE THE VERY
HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURING.
$$JJ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 7, 2:40 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKBedford2 hr

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.