Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987

Flash Flood Warning 8, NWS Blacksburg, VA

April 16, 1987Davidson County, Guilford County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Apr 16, 1987, 1:24 AM EDT for Davidson County, Guilford County, North Carolina. It was in force for 96 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 16, 1987, 1:24 AM EDT (05:24 UTC)
Expired
Apr 16, 1987, 3:00 AM EDT
In force
96 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Davidson County, NC, Guilford 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 00:00Z, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 18 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 KGSO 160525
FFWGSO
NCC081-057-160700-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
124 AM EDT THU APR 16 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 300 AM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTH CAROLINA...GUILFORD...DAVIDSON

AT 115 AM RADAR INDICATED HEAVY RAIN DEVELOPING IN DAVIDSON AND
MOVING INTO GUILFORD COUNTY. SOME FLOODING CONTINUES IS SOUTHERN
AND EASTERN PARTS OF GUILFORD COUNTY.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLASH FLOODING IS IMMINENT
OR HAS BEEN REPORTED. PEOPLE IN THE WARNING AREA SHOULD TAKE
IMMEDIATE ACTION TO PROTECT LIVES AND PROPERTY FROM RAPIDLY
RISING AND SWIFTLY MOVING WATER.

RESIDENTS LIVING NEAR STREAMS..CREEKS OR AREAS PRONE TO FLOODING DUE TO
FAST RISING WATER SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY ALERT AND WATCHFUL.

MOTORISTS SHOULD BE PARTICULARLY CAUTIOUS AND NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS
ANY ROADWAY..BRIDGE OR LOW LYING AREA INUNDATED WITH S+WIFTLY MOVING WATER.
PEDESTRIANS AS WELL SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS ANY AREA CONTAINING
RAPIDLY MOVING WATER ESPECIALLY IF THE WATER DEPTH IS ABOVE KNEE LEVEL.

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 15, 8:34 PM EDT, 4 hours 50 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, 4 hours 41 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, 8:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKDavidson65 min
Apr 15, 9:37 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKRandolph3 hr
Apr 15, 10:13 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKDavidson, Guilford3 hr
Apr 15, 10:56 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKCaswell, Rockingham4 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.