Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 35, NWS Blacksburg, VA

September 22, 1989Stokes County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 22, 1989, 8:50 AM EDT for Stokes County, North Carolina. It was in force for 115 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 22, 1989, 8:50 AM EDT (12:50 UTC)
Expired
Sep 22, 1989, 10:45 AM EDT
In force
115 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Stokes County, NC

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, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 47 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 1989-09-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 293 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1989-09-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 657 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
293 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
666 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
81 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
657 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
944 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
13.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KGSO 221250
FFWGSO
NCC169-171-193-221445-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
850 AM EDT FRI SEP 22 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A URBAN AND SMALL 
STREAM FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN 
THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES

   IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
      STOKES...SURRY...WILKES

AT 845 AM THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM HUGU WAS IN THE VICINITY OF
HICKORY NORTH CAROLINA. WILKES COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTS ROADS FLOODED
IN PLACES AND IN STOKES COUNTY...FLASH FLOODING IS OCCURRING IN
DANBURY. MOVEMENT OF THE RAIN WAS TO THE NORTH AT 65 TO 70 MPH.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS IMMINENT.
PEOPLE IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION TO PROTECT
LIFE AND PROPERTY.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE 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 IMMEDIATELY.
REMEMBER..MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.

 GR

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, Sep 22, 7:11 AM EDT, 1 hour 39 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LYNCHBURG VA
710 AM EDT FRI SEP 22 1989

...TROPICAL STORM HUGO NEAR CHARLOTTE NC...
...TORNADO..FLASH FLOOD AND HIGH WIND WATCHES IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA...

ALTHOUGH THERE IS NO SEVERE WEATHER INDICATED IN SOUTHCENTRAL
VIRGINIA AT THIS TIME..AS THE CENTER OF HUGO NEARS SOUTHERN VIRGINIA
THUNDERSTORMS..HEAVY RAIN AND WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 50 MPH ARE
POSSIBLE. THE POSSIBLITY THAT THIS STORM MAY PRODIUCE TORNADOS CAN NOT
BE DISCOUNTED.

.RESIDENTS SHOULD LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND LOCAL MEDIA
THROUGHOUT THE DAY.

HUDGINS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 22, 8:04 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKAlleghany3 hr
Sep 22, 8:50 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKSurry, Wilkes115 min
Sep 22, 10:41 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKStokes, Surry3 hr
Sep 22, 10:41 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKAlleghany, Wilkes3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 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.