Alert archive / Kentucky / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 13, NWS Jackson, KY

April 27, 1989Letcher County, Kentucky

NWS Jackson, KY issued this flash flood warning at Apr 27, 1989, 12:25 AM EDT for Letcher County, Kentucky. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 27, 1989, 12:25 AM EDT (04:25 UTC)
Expired
Apr 27, 1989, 4:30 AM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Jackson, KY
Area
Whole counties

County Letcher County, KY

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

Huntington/Tri S, WV (KHTS), launched 00:00Z, 4.4 hours before the alert went out and 142 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, Huntington/Tri S, WV at 00:00Z on 1989-04-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 354 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, Huntington/Tri S, WV at 00:00Z on 1989-04-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 40 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
354 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-71 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1173 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
152 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KJKL 270426
FFWJKL
KYC133-270830-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY
1225 AM EDT THU APR 27 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY
          ...LETCHER  INCLUDING THE CITIES OF WHITESBURG AND JENKINS
 
HEAVY RAINS HAD PRODUCED FLASH FLOODING IN LETCHER COUNTY THIS
EVENING. SEVERAL STREAMS AND CREEKS WERE OUT OF THEIR BANKS.
MORE HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED EARLY THURSDAY MORNING AND THAT WILL
RESULT IN MORE FLOODING. THE SHERIFF OFFICE IN WHITESBURG REPORTED
THAT WATER WAS OVER HIGHWAY 23 IN WHITESBURG. THE HIGH WATER WAS
THREATENING A DAMN ON CRAFT CALLY CREEK.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROAnDWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

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 26, 6:30 PM EDT, 5 hours 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KENTUCKY
630 PM EDT WED APR 26 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO MOVE THROUGH SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY...

AT 620 PM...SEVERAL THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING THROUGH THE COALFIELDS.
THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN KNOTT COUNTY 15 MILES EAST OF
HAZARD. ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER PIKE COUNTY 5 MILES SOUTHEAST
OF PIKEVILLE.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...STRONG
GUSTY WINDS...BRIEF PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL.

THE THUNDERSTORMS OVER KNOTT COUNTY WILL MOVE INTO LETCHER COUNTY
BY 700 PM WHILE THE STORM OVER PIKE COUNTY MOVES INTO VIRGINIA.
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE SHOULD CONTINUE TO MOVE THROUGH THE RAMIANDER
OF THE COALFIELDS THROUGH 730 PM.

SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY RESIDENTS SHOULD MOVE TO A STRONG REINFORCED BUILDING
IF THREATENING WEATHER IS OBSERVED OR IF A WARNING IS
ISSUED.

JOHNSON
Special weather statement, Apr 26, 7:27 PM EDT, 4 hours 58 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KENTUCKY
730 PM EDT WED APR 26 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY...

AT 720 PM...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING OVER LETCHER
COUNTY 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF HAZARD. OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
WERE MOVING THROUGH EASTERN HARLAN COUNTY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
WERE MOVING THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY.

THE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...STRONG
GUSTY WINDS...BRIEF PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL.

THE THUNDERSTORMS IN LETCHER COUNTY WERE MOVING MOVING SLOWLY SOUTH
AND WILL MOVE INTO VIRGINIA BY 800 PM. SINCE THE STORMS ARE MOVING
VERY SLOWLY...THE HEAVY RAINS MAY PRODUCE SOME SMALL STREAM FLOODING.

SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY RESIDENTS SHOULD MOVE TO A STRONG REINFORCED BUILDING
IF THREATENING WEATHER IS OBSERVED OR IF A WARNING IS
ISSUED.

JOHNSON

The office that day

Everything else NWS Jackson, KY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 26, 8:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLLetcher46 min
Apr 26, 9:00 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningJKLLetcher4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Kentucky, 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.