Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 83, NWS Charleston, WV

October 17, 1989Raleigh County, Wyoming County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Oct 17, 1989, 9:48 AM EDT for Raleigh County, Wyoming County, West Virginia. It was in force for 117 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 17, 1989, 9:48 AM EDT (13:48 UTC)
Expired
Oct 17, 1989, 11:45 AM EDT
In force
117 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

Counties Raleigh County, WV, Wyoming 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 223 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1989-10-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 15 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1989-10-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 81 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
15 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-78 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
685 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
106 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 KBKW 171348
FFWBKW
WVC081-109-171545-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV
948 AM EDT TUE OCT 17 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BECKLEY WV HAS ISSUED A
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
          ...RALEIGH...WYOMING
 
IFLOWS AUTOMATED RAINGAGES REPORT IN EXCESS OF ONE INCH OF RAIN DURING
THE PAST HOUR...THIS IS IN ADDITION TO OVER TWO AND ONE HALF INCHES
THAT FELL OVERNIGHT...AND OBSERVERS ARE REPORTING SMALL STREAMS
LEAVING THEIR BANKS.
 
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE 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, Oct 17, 4:22 AM EDT, 5 hours 26 minutes before
BULLETIN
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV
420 AM EDT TUE OCT 17 1989

...RAINFALL TOTALS CONTINUE TO RISE OVER SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA...

AT 410 AM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT BECKLEY SHOWED AN AREA OF
RAIN...SOME HEAVY...EXTENDING OVER MOST OF THE SOUTHERN HALF OF
WEST VIRGINIA. THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS OVER BECKLEY IN RALEIGH COUNTY.

AUTOMATED IFLOWS GAGES HAVE REPORTED AN AVERAGE OF ONE AND A HALF
TO TWO INCHES OVER SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA DURING THE
NIGHT. 2.08 INCHES WAS REPORTED AT PIE ON ROUTE 52 IN SOUTHEAST MINGO
COUNTY.

NO FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE
AT BECKLEY...HOWEVER...AS A RESULT OF THE HEAVY RAINFALL IT IS LIKELY
THAT WATER WILL RISE IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS...AND LOW LYING ROADWAYS WILL
HAVE STANDING WATER CREATING HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS DURING THE PRE-DAWN HOURS WHEN IT IS HARDER
TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF WATER OVER ROADS. AVOID DRIVING THROUGH
AREAS COVERED BY WATER...AND ADJUST YOUR DRIVING SPEEDS TO COMPENSATE
FOR THE RAIN AND WET PAVEMENT.

THE RAIN IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS. STAY
TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FhOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION
AND REPORT ANY SERIOUS FLOODING TO YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

END/CALCATERRA
Special weather statement, Oct 17, 9:00 AM EDT, 48 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTINGTON WV
845 AM EDT TUE OCT 17 1989

....SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOODING IN MARTIN COUNTY KENTUCKY....

AT 845 AM EDT THIS TUESDAY MORNING WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED SOME
LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN IN JOHNSON AND MARTIN COUNTIES OF KENTCUKY.
THE MARTIN COUNTY SHERIFF STATED THAT WATER WAS OVER ROUTE 40 BETWEEN
THE TOWNS OF INEZ AND WARFIELD.

THE RADAR SHOWS THE RAIN MOVING TO THE NORTH NORTHEAST AT 20 TO 25 MPH.
MANY OTHER ROADS IN SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY ARE CLOSED THIS MORNING DUE TO
HIGH WATER. IF YOU ARE DRIVING IN THIS AREA DO NOT CROSS A HIGHWAY IF
WATER IS FLOWING ACROSS IT.

STAY TUNE TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OF TV SLTATIONS FOR
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS THIS MORNING.

COLLINS...

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 17, 9:01 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXMingo59 min

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.