Alert archive / Kentucky / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 13, NWS Louisville, KY

October 16, 1989Rockcastle County, Kentucky

NWS Louisville, KY issued this flash flood warning at Oct 16, 1989, 11:20 PM EDT for Rockcastle County, Kentucky. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 16, 1989, 11:20 PM EDT (03:20 UTC)
Expired
Oct 17, 1989, 4:00 AM EDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
NWS Louisville, KY
Area
Whole counties

County Rockcastle 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, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 195 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 1989-10-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 317 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 1989-10-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 78 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
317 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-21 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
727 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
78 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
62 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 KSDF 170330 COR
FFWSDF
KYC203-170800-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING                       ...CORRECTION FOR GARBLING...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
1120 PM EDT MON OCT 16 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOUISVILLE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...

IN SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY
          ...ROCKCASTLE

AT 11 PM EDT...THE DES COORDINATOR 27 MILES NORTHWEST OF LONDON...IN
BRODHEAD KENTUCKY OF ROCKCASTLE COUNTY...REPORTED NUMEROUS BASEMENTS
AND ROADS FLOODED IN THE CITY. A NUMBER OF FACTORIES IN MOUNT VERNON
WERE ALSO REPORTED FLOODED. RAINFALL AMOUNTS SINCE 10 AM ON MONDAY
MORNING HAD TOTALED 4.3 INCHES IN THE CITY OF BRODHEAD.

ADDITIONAL RAINFALL IS FORECAST TO MOVE INTO SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY
TONIGHT...WITH ADDED RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 1.5 INCHES POSSIBLE.
FLASH FLOODING IS THEREFORE HIGHLY PROBABLE IN THE COUNTY OF
ROCKCASTLE TONIGHT.

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.

GOETSCH

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, Oct 16, 7:12 PM EDT, 4 hours 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
710 PM EDT MON OCT 16 1989

SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO MOVE ACROSS
MOST SECTIONS OF KENTUCKY AT 7 PM EDT.

SOME STORMS HAVE PRODUCED PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN AND LOCALIZED
FLOODING. COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS IN ROCKCASTLE COUNTY OF SOUTH
CENTRAL KENTUCKY RELAYED REPORTS OF MINOR STREET FLOODING IN
THE CITY OF BRODHEAD. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1.8 INCHES IN A 2 HOUR
PERIOD WITH A TOTAL OF 2.8 INCHES FOR THE DAY HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.

THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE EVENING HOURS...SHOWERS AND SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE OVER KENTUCKY. SOME STORMS
WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR PRODUCING BRIEF PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN
WITH MINOR STREET AND LOWLAND FLOODING.

IF YOU LIVE ALONG A SMALL STREAM OR CREEKS...REMAIN ALERT TO
WATER LEVELS AND MOVE TO HIGH GROUND IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED.
GOETSCH
Special weather statement, Oct 16, 8:15 PM EDT, 3 hours 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
810 PM EDT MON OCT 16 1989

SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO MOVE ACROSS
MOST SECTIONS OF KENTUCKY AT 8 PM EDT. SOME STORMS HAVE
PRODUCED PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN AND LOCALIZED FLOODING.

THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE EVENING HOURS...SHOWERS AND SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE OVER KENTUCKY. SOME STORMS
WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR PRODUCING BRIEF PERIODS /OF HEAVY RAIN
WITH MINOR STREET AND LOWLAND FLOODING.

IF YOU LIVE ALONG A SMALL STREAM OR CREEKS...REMAIN ALERT TO
WATER LEVELS AND MOVE TO HIGH GROUND IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED.

GOETSCH
Special weather statement, Oct 16, 10:12 PM EDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
1010 PM EDT MON OCT 16 1989

SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO MOVE ACROSS
MOST SECTIONS OF KENTUCKY AT 10 PM EDT. SOME STORMS HAVE
PRODUCED PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN AND LOCALIZED FLOODING.

THE STRONGEST STORMS AT 10 PM EDT WERE LOCATED ABOUT 30 MILES
WEST TO NORTHWEST OF LONDON IN SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY.

THROUGHOUT THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS...SHOWERS AND SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE OVER KENTUCKY. SOME STORMS
WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR PRODUCING BRIEF PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN
WITH MINOR STREET AND LOWLAND FLOODING.

IF YOU LIVE ALONG A SMALL STREAM OR CREEK...REMAIN ALERT TO
WATER LEVELS AND MOVE |TO HIGH GROUND IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED.
WHEN DRIVING...DO NOT CROSS ROADS COVERED BY WATER.
GOETSCH

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.