Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS Charleston, WV

March 6, 19894 counties in West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Mar 6, 1989, 11:10 AM EST for 4 counties in West Virginia. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 6, 1989, 11:10 AM EST (16:10 UTC)
Expired
Mar 6, 1989, 2:00 PM EST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

Counties Barbour County, WV, Harrison County, WV, Lewis County, WV, Upshur 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 149 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1989-03-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1989-03-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 1 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
533 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
92 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
234 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 KEKN 061620
FFWEKN
WVC061-049-033-091-001-097-041-061900-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE - ELKINS, WV
11:10 AM EST MON MAR 6, 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 2 PM EST FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN

WEST VIRGINIA...MONONGALIA...MARION..HARRISON...TAYLOR...BARBOUR...
UPSHUR...LEWIS.

AT 11 AM RADAR AND SURFACE REPORTS SHOW AN AREA OF MODERATE RAIN OVER
OR MOVING INTO THE WARNED COUNTIES. STREAMS ARE STARTING OUT OF THEIR
BANKS OR AT BANKFULL LEVELS. MODERATE RAINFALLS WILL CAUSE FAST RISES
ALONG SMALL STREAMS AND RIVERS.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR HAS BEEN
REPORTED. IF WATER LEVELS BEGIN TO RISE...MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND OR TO
A PLACE OF SAFETY IMMEDIATELY. IF ASKED TO EVACUATE BY EMERGENCY
PERSONNEL...DO SO.

DO NOT RETURN UNTIL WATER LEVELS BEGIN TO RECEED. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO
DRIVE THROUGH WATER...IT MAY BE TOO SWIFT OR THE ROAD BED MAY BE
WASHED AWAY.


END/HILL-PURDY

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, Mar 6, 5:22 AM EST, 5 hours 48 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTINGTON WEST VIRGINIA
510 AM EST MON MAR 6 1989
...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR EAST KENTUCKY TODAY...
...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO TODAY...
...FLOOD WATCH WESTERN WEST VIRGINIA TODAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATES RAIN NORTHEAST KENTUCKY
SOUTHERN OHIO AND WESTERN WEST VIRGINIA.  A SLOW MOVING STORM SYSTEM
WILL BRING MORE RAIN AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM WITH HEAVY RAIN INTO
THE REGION THIS MORNING.
CFEEKS AND STREAMS ARE REPORTED NEAR BANKFULL...BUT NO FLOODING HAS
BEEN REPORTED.
IF YOU LIVE IN AN AREA THAT FLOODS QUICKLY YOU SHOULD STAY ALERT FOR
ANY ONSET OF HEAVY RAIN. SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS CAN FLOOD VERY QUICKLY
DURING STRONG THUNDERSTORMS.
REPORTS INDICATE THAT FREEZING RAIN HAS CAUSED POWER LINES DOWN AND
ICY ROADS FROM JACKSON OHIO TO JUST NORTH OF PIKETON OHIO.
WEST BOUND TRAVELERS WILL ENCOUNTER FREEZING RAIN...
SLEET AND SN5OW OVER WESTERN AND NORTHERN KENTUCKY
AND SOUTHERN OHIO.

SHUFF
Special weather statement, Mar 6, 6:46 AM EST, 4 hours 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV
645 AM EST MON MAR 6 1989

...FLOOD WATCH FOR THE GREENBRIER VALLEY AND SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
THIS MORNING. THIS INCLUDES THE COUNTIES OF FAYETTE..GREENBRIER..SUMMERS
..MONROE..MERCER AND RALEIGH.

...FLOOD WATCH FOR THIS MORNING..AND A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FOR THE SOUTHWEST COAL FIELD..THIS INCLUDES THE
COUNTIES OF WYOMING..MCDOWELL..LOGAN AND MINGO.

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA TODAY...

HEAVY RAINS OVERNIGHT CAUSED SOME SMALL STREAMS IN MINGO..LOGAN..WAYNE..
BOONE AND LINCOLN COUNTIES OF SOUTHWEST WEST VIRGINIA TO RISE TO NEAR
BANK FULL. ONLY LIGHT RAIN IS OCCURING ACROSS SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA
AND SOUTH WEST VIRGINIA THIS MORNING. HOWEVER HEAVER RAIN ALONG WITH
THE SATURATED GROUND COULD CAUSE ADDITIONAL RISES ON SMALL STREAMS
THROUGH THIS MORNING.

PERSONS LIVING NEAR SMALL STREAMS SHOULD LISTEN FOR THE LATEST WEATHER
INFORMATION AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO SAFETY IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED
OR A WARNING IS ISSUED.

URBAN FLOODING IS POSSIBLE IN POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. MOTORIST SHOULD NOT
ATTEMT TO DRIVE THROUGH WATER OF UNKNOWN DEPTH FLOWING ACROSS RAODWAYS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR COMMERCIAL BROADCAST FOR FURTHER
STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.

END/BRAMBLE

The office that day

Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 6, 9:08 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXKanawha, Lincoln3 hr
Mar 6, 11:10 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXMarion, Monongalia, Taylor3 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.