Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Blacksburg, VA

April 15, 1987Patrick County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Apr 15, 1987, 9:25 PM EDT for Patrick County, Virginia. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 15, 1987, 9:25 PM EDT (01:25 UTC)
Expired
Apr 16, 1987, 2:00 AM EDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Patrick 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, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 75 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 1987-04-16Temperature 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 1987-04-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 127 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
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
127 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
213 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 KROA 160100
FFWROA
VAC141-160600-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
925 PM EDT WED APR 15 1987 EXPIRES 200 AM EDT

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 200 AN EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

VIRGINIA...PATRICK

HEAVY RAINS HAVE CONTINUED TO MOVE INTO PATRICK COUNTY. OFFICIALS
THERE REPORT RAPID RISES ALONG THE SOUTH MAYO NEAR THE TOWN OF
STUART. OTHER SMALL STREAMS WILL LIKELY GO OUT OF BANKS AS WELL


A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED OR IS
IMMINENT. TAKE IMMEDIATE PRECAUTIONS AGAINST RAPIDLYH RISING
WATERS AND BE PREPARED GO MOVE TO SAFETY.$$
HM160126Z.

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 15, 8:34 PM EDT, 51 minutes before
^WBCSPSROA

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
830  PM  EDT  WED APR 15 1987

AT 820 PM RADAR SHOWED THAT THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING OVER
CENTRAL THROUGH EASTERN PATRICK..WESTERN HENRY..WESTERN FRANKLIN
AND SOUTHERN FLOYD COUNTIES. HEAVIEST RAINS APPEARED TO BE CENTERED
FROM A FEW MILES NORTH OF STUART OVER TO CRITZ IN PATRICK COUNTY..
WHERE SOME AMOUNTS AROUND AN INCH IN TWO HOURS HAVE BEEN MEASURED.

A SMALL STREAM FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES IN THESE COUNTIES. PERSONS
LIVING NEAR FLOOD PRONE AREAS SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY ALERT SINCE
THE RAINFALL ACTIVITY SHOWS ONLY SLOW MOVEMENT AND CONTINUED RAINS
THE NEXT FEW HOURS IS POSSIBLE.

STAY TUNED TO MEDIA AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO SOURCES IN THE EVENT A
WARNING OF IMMINENT OR ACTUAL FLOODING IS REQUIRED.

MCINTOSH
Special weather statement, Apr 15, 8:43 PM EDT, 42 minutes before
^WBCSPSROA

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
830  PM  EDT  WED APR 15 1987

AT 820 PM RADAR SHOWED THAT THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING OVER
CENTRAL THROUGH EASTERN PATRICK..WESTERN HENRY..WESTERN FRANKLIN
AND SOUTHERN FLOYD COUNTIES. HEAVIEST RAINS APPEARED TO BE CENTERED
FROM A FEW MILES NORTH OF STUART OVER TO CRITZ IN PATRICK COUNTY..
WHERE SOME AMOUNTS AROUND AN INCH IN TWO HOURS HAVE BEEN MEASURED.

A SMALL STREAM FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES IN THESE COUNTIES. PERSONS
LIVING NEAR FLOOD PRONE AREAS SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY ALERT SINCE
THE RAINFALL ACTIVITY SHOWS ONLY SLOW MOVEMENT AND CONTINUED RAINS
THE NEXT FEW HOURS IS POSSIBLE.

STAY TUNED TO MEDIA AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO SOURCES IN THE EVENT A
WARNING OF IMMINENT OR ACTUAL FLOODING IS REQUIRED.

MCINTOSH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 11:00 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKBedford, Pittsylvania3 hr
Apr 16, 12:54 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKCraig3 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.