Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 21, NWS Baltimore/Washington

May 16, 1989Frederick County, Virginia; Berkeley County, Morgan County, West Virginia; Washington County, Maryland

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this flash flood warning at May 16, 1989, 6:08 PM EDT for Frederick County, Virginia; Berkeley County, Morgan County, West Virginia; Washington County, Maryland. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 16, 1989, 6:08 PM EDT (22:08 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 1989, 12:00 AM EDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area: Whole counties

Counties Washington County, MD, Frederick County, VA, Berkeley County, WV, Morgan County, WV

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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 82 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 25 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 517 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 25 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 KWBC 162209
FFWWBC
MDC031-021-043-VAC107-840-043-069-WVC003-037-065-170400-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WASHINGTON DC
608 PM EDT TUE MAY 16 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WASHINGTON HAS ISSUED A
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN  MARYLAND
          ...MONTGOMERY
IN NORTH CENTRAL MARYLAND
          ...FREDERICK
IN WEST CENTRAL MARYLAND
          ...WASHINGTON
IN NORTH VIRGINIA
          ...LOUDOUN
IN NORTHWEST VIRGINIA
          ...CITY OF WINCHESTER...CLARKE...FREDERICK
IN NORTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA
          ...BERKELEY...JEFFERSON...MORGAN
 
WIDESPREAD MODERATE RAIN OVER NORTHERN VIRGINIA..THE EASTERN PANHANDLE
OF WEST VIRGINIA...AND PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL MARYLAND HAS PRODUCED
NUMEROUS REPORTS OF ROADWAYS CLOSED AND UNDERWATER AND MANY SMALL
STREAMS NEAR BANKFULL IN THE WARNING AREA. ADDITIONAL RAIN WILL CAUSE
MANY OF THESE STREAMS NEAR BANKFULL TO OVERFLOW DURING THE EVENING.
 
A FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGESd...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
STERN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Baltimore/Washington issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 6:08 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Loudoun	6 hr
May 16, 6:08 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Clarke	6 hr
May 16, 2:50 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Berkeley, Jefferson	4 hr
May 16, 2:50 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Morgan	4 hr
May 16, 2:50 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Frederick, Montgomery	4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 1989 Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 1989 Flash Flood Warnings in Maryland, 1989 Every 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.