Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989
Flash Flood Warning 23, NWS Charleston, WV
NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Jun 16, 1989, 2:20 AM EDT for Kanawha County, West Virginia. It was in force for 4 hr.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Jun 16, 1989, 2:20 AM EDT (06:20 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 16, 1989, 6:15 AM EDT
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Charleston, WV
- Area
- Whole counties
County Kanawha 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
Huntington/Tri S, WV (KHTS), launched 00:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 85 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
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -39 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 575 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 53 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 65 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KCRW 160622
FFWCRW
WVC013-087-039-161015-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
220 AM EDT FRI JUN 16 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 615 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES
IN THE NORTH CENTRAL PART OF WEST VIRGINIA
CALHOUN...
IN THE WEST CENTRAL PART OF WEST VIRGINIA
ROANE...KANAWHA...
AT 200 AM EDT FLOODING AND FLASH FLOODING WAS REPORTED TO HAVE
CLOSED MANY MAJOR ROADS AND HIGHWAYS. MAJOR ROADS CLOSED INCLUDE
ROUTE 16 IN CALHOUN COUNTY AND ROUTES 119...214...AND 94 IN KANAWHA
COUNTY. WIDESPREAD FLOODING IS BEING REPORTED ON NUMEROUS
SECONDARY ROADS. WATERS ARE RISING IN MOST LOCATIONS AND A NUMBER
OF ROADS ARE INUNDATED BY SEVERAL FEET OF WATER. DUE TO DARKNESS
...IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ASSESS THE EXTENT OF DAMAGE.
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS ROADWAYS.
VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED IMMEDIATELY.
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOOD WATERS. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED...
ACT QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
RAINS DURING THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS HAVE SATURATED THE GROUND. A
BURST OF HEAVY RAIN SWEPT ACROSS THE AREA THURSDAY EVENING. RAINS
HAVE ENDED FOR THE TIME BEING...BUT RUNOFF CONTINUES INTO STREAMS.
LISTEN FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS FLOODING.
END/PARKEWhat 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, Jun 15, 9:22 PM EDT, 4 hours 58 minutes before
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV 920 PM EDT THU JUN 15 1989 AT 915 PM THIS EVENING RAIN CONTINUED ACROSS SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA. WEATHER RADAR SHOWED LIGHT TO MODERATE PRECIPITATION OVER MOST OF SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT AROUND 30 MPH. SEVERAL SMALL STREAMS WERE REPORTED OUT OF THEIR BANKS IN BOTH LOGAN AND MINGO COUNTIES. ALSO SOME ROADS WERE BLOCKED DUE TO MUD SLIDES. MOTORISTX SHOULD BE ALERT FOR PONDING OF WATER ON ROADS AND NOT DRIVE THROUGH WATER OF UNKNOWN DEPTH. IF RAPIDLY RISING WATER IS OBSERVED YOU SHOULD MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION. END/CDB
Special weather statement, Jun 15, 9:55 PM EDT, 4 hours 25 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 950 PM EDT THU JUN 15 1989 MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINS BROUGHT SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS IN MANY LOCATIONS OVER THE AREA OUT OF THEIR BANKS.. CREATING HIGH WATER PROBLEMS FOR SOME RESIDENTS AND MOTORISTS NEAR THESE STREAM LOCATIONS. THE HIGH WATERS HAVE CAUSED ROADWAYS TO BECOME IMPASSABLE AND REACH THREATENING LEVELS FOR SOME HOMEOWNERS. RAINFALL FOR THE PAST 12 HOURS ENDING AT 800PM HAD AMOUNTS RANGING FROM /0.25/ INCHES TO OVER TWO AND ONE-HALF INCHES AT WILLIAMSON.../2.60/ INCHES. A FEW OTHER REPORTED AMOUNTS FROM AROUND THE STATE...MONONGALIA COUNTY HAS AROUND AN INCH FOR THE 12 HOUR PERIOD...TUCKER COUNTY HAD 0.84 INCHES...AT THE YEAGER AIRPORT 2.05 INCHES WERE MEASURED...AND SOME COMMUNITIES IN WEBSTER COUNTY HAD OVER 1.75 INCHES. BUT MOST LOCATIONS SAW AMOUNTS FROM ONE HALF INCH TO ONE INCH DURING THE 12 HOUR PERIOD. THE RAIN HAS BEEN THE RESULT OF A FRONTAL BOUNDARY THAT PUSHED INTO WEST VIRGINIA AND BECAME NEAR STATIONARY OVER THE STATE YESTERDAY. OTHER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS MOVING NORTHEASTWARD ALONG THE FRONT BROUGHT IN MORE MOISTURE TO KEEP RAIN OVER THE AREA... CREATING THE PROBLEMS WE HAVE EXPERIENCED. AT 930 PM THIS EVENING...RADAR SHOWED RAIN CONTINUING TO DIMINISH OVER THE OVER WEST VIRGINIA. THE RAIN HAD ALL BUT ENDED OVER SOUTHEASTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA... AND THE AREA CONTINUES TO SHRINK OVER THE MOUNTAIN STATE. LIGHT RAIN WAS SHOWN FROM MARSHALL COUNTY SOUTHWEST ALONG THE OHIO RIVER TO NEAR HUNTINGTON...INTO WYOMING COUNTY TO NEAR LEWISBURG... THEN NORTHEASTWARD TO PENDLETON AND GRANT COUNTIES. WHILE THE RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE TO DIMINISH OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS... THERE IS STILL MORE RAIN EXPECTED OVERNIGHT AND FRIDAY AS THE STORM SYSTEM WEST OF THE STATE HAS YET TO PASS THROUGH. END/BDG
Special weather statement, Jun 15, 11:28 PM EDT, 2 hours 52 minutes before
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV 1125 PM EDT THU JUN 15 1989 AT 1120 PM THIS EVENING ONLY A FEW PATCHES OF LIGHT RAIN WAS FALLING OVER SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA. SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKE IN LOGAN AND MINGO COUNTIES THAT HAVE BEEN OVERFLOWING SHOULD BE RETURNING TO WITHIN THEIR BANKS DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS. MOTORIST SHOULD BE ALERT FOR PONDING OF WATER ON ROADS AND NOT DRIVE THROUGH WATER OF UNKNOWN DEPTH. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION. END/CDB
The office that day
Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 16, 2:20 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Calhoun | 4 hr |
| Jun 16, 2:20 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Roane | 85 min |
| Jun 16, 6:41 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Calhoun | 3 hr |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in West 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.