Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989
Flash Flood Warning 13, NWS Wakefield, VA
NWS Wakefield, VA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 22, 1989, 11:18 AM EDT for Alleghany County, Bath County, Virginia. It was in force for 4 hr.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 22, 1989, 11:18 AM EDT (15:18 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 22, 1989, 3:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Wakefield, VA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Alleghany County, VA, Bath 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, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 205 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 293 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 666 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 81 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 657 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 944 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.1
- Supercell composite
- 13.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KRIC 221520
FFWRIC
VAC005-017-091-221915-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RICHMOND VA
1118 AM EDT FRI SEP 22 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RICHMOND HAS ISSUED A
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 315 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN VIRGINIA
...ALLEGHANY...BATH...HIGHLAND
AT 1115 WEATHER RADAR SHOWED HEAVY RAIN FALLING IN THE COUNTIES OF
ALLEGHANY...BATH...AND HIGHLAND. THIS RAIN WILL LIKELY CAUSE FLOODING
ALONG SMALL STREAMS AND IN POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A
SMALL ONE...ON FOOT.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 22, 8:50 AM EDT, 2 hours 28 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RICHMOND VA 850 AM EDT FRI SEP 22 1989 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA... ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR ALL BUT SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA TODAY... AT 730 AM EDT THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM HUGO WAS ABOUT 35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF HICKORY NORTH CAROLINA. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTH NORTHWEST AROUND 30 MILES AN HOUR. A MORE NORTHERLY COURSE IS EXPECTED LATER TODAY. AT 845 AM WIDESPREAD RAIN AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS WERE OCCURRING IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF VIRGINIA. ROANOKE HAS RECORDED A PEAK WIND GUST OF 49 MILES AN HOUR. ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE STATE... THE SHOWERS WERE SCATTERED AND WINDS WERE BELOW TROPICAL STORM STRENGTH. CENTRAL VIRGINIA CAN EXPECT INCREASING WINDS LATER THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON. TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE AND A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL VIRGINA UNTIL NOON. > RAIN WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES LATE THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON. THIS RAIN COULD LEAD TO URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 4 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE. IF THESE AMOUNTS DO OCCUR MODERATE TO LOCALLY SEVERE FLOODING WILL OCCUR ALONG THE JAMES AND APPOMATTOX RIVERS. A MORE SPECIFIC FORECAST CANNOT BE MADE UNTIL ACTUAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE AVAILABLE. REMEMBER...NEVER TRY TO DRIVE ACROSS A FLOODED ROAD. ON FOOT... KEEP AWAY FROM STORM DRAINS. IF A TORNADO STRIKES YOUR AREA...MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. GET UNDER SOMETHING STURDY. LISTEN TO LOCAL RADIO...TELEVISION...OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS. JL/HS
Special weather statement, Sep 22, 9:26 AM EDT, 1 hour 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RICHMOND VA 915 AM EDT FRI SEP 22 1989 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA... ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR ALL BUT SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA TODAY... AT 900 AM EDT THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM HUGO WAS JUST NORTH OF HICKORY NORTH CAROLINA. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTH NORTHWEST AROUND 30 MILES AN HOUR. A MORE NORTHERLY COURSE IS EXPECTED LATER TODAY. AT 900 AM WIDESPREAD RAIN AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS WERE OCCURRING IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF VIRGINIA. ROANOKE HAS RECORDED A PEAK WIND GUST OF 49 MILES AN HOUR. ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE STATE... THE SHOWERS WERE SCATTERED AND WINDS WERE BELOW TROPICAL STORM STRENGTH. CENTRAL VIRGINIA CAN EXPECT INCREASING WINDS LATER THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON. TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE AND A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL VIRGINA UNTIL NOON. > RAIN WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES LATE THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON. THIS RAIN COULD LEAD TO URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE. IF THESE AMOUNTS DO OCCUR...MAJOR FLOODING WILL OCCUR ALONG THE JAMES AND APPOMATTOX RIVERS. IF 8 INCHES OF RAIN VERIFIES...CONDITIONS APPROACHING THOSE OF NOVEMBER 1985 WILL OCCUR. A SPECIFIC FORECAST OF FLOODING CANNOT BE MADE UNTIL ACTUAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE AVAILABLE. REMEMBER...NEVER TRY TO DRIVE ACROSS A FLOODED ROAD. ON FOOT... KEEP AWAY FROM STORM DRAINS. IF A TORNADO STRIKES YOUR AREA...MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. GET UNDER SOMETHING STURDY. LISTEN TO LOCAL RADIO...TELEVISION...OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS. JL/HS/SMB
The office that day
Everything else NWS Wakefield, VA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 22, 11:18 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | AKQ | Highland | 4 hr |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 1989Every flash flood warning in 1989
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.