Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989
Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS Blacksburg, VA
NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at May 5, 1989, 9:40 PM EDT for Franklin County, Virginia. It was in force for 2 hr.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 5, 1989, 9:40 PM EDT (01:40 UTC)
- Expired
- May 5, 1989, 11:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 2 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Blacksburg, VA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Franklin County, VA
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 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 101 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
- 608 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 607 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 60 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 439 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 552 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.9
- Supercell composite
- 7.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KROA 060143
FFWROA
VAC067-060345-
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
940 PM EDT FRI MAY 5 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ROANOKE HAS ISSUED A
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
...FRANKLIN
SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS ARE REPORTED OUT OF THEIR BANKS ACROSS MOST
OF FRANKLIN COUNTY. SOME SECTIONS OF ROADWAY ARE UNDERWATER IN LOW
LYING AREAS. MORE MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN WILL FALL OVER FRANKLIN
COUNTY FOR THE NEXT 1 TO 2 HOURS...CAUSING FLOODING TO CONTINUE.
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS. IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED...
ACT QUICKLY. MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
JACKSONWhat 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, May 5, 7:21 PM EDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA 715 PM EDT FRI MAY 5 1989 ...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR THE COUNTIES OF GILES MONTGOMERY FLOYD CARROLL AND ALL COUNTIES WEST OF THESE COUNTIES IN VIRGINIA... AT 710 PM RADAR AND IFLOWS GAUGES SHOWS SOME HEAVY RAIN IN PORTIONS OF SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA. RADAR SHOWS SOME HEAVY SHOWERS FROM A LINE FROM CARROLL COUNTY NORTHEAST THROUGH ROANOKE COUNTY...ALSO FROM NORTHERN HENRY COUNTY NORTHEAST THROUGH BEDFORD COUNTY. IN SOME OF THESE AREAS IFLOWS SHOW RAINFALL FROM 1/2 INCH TO NEARLY AN INCH OF RAIN FALLING WITHIN AN HOUR. THIS COULD CAUSE SOME FLOODING ON SOME SMALL STREAMS AND LOW wAREAS WITH POOR DRAINAGE. ALSO SOME URBAN FOODING COULD OCCUR. PERSONS LIVING IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ALERT IN CASE FLOODING BEGINS. CE
Special weather statement, May 5, 8:20 PM EDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA 815 PM EDT FRI MAY 5 1989 ...TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND EASTERN VIRGINIA. IN THE ROANOKE WARNING AREA THE WATCH INCLUDES THE COUNTIES OF PATRICK HENRY AND FRANKLIN/AND THE INDEPENDENT CITY OF MARTINSVILLE... ...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR THE COUNTIES OF GILES MONTGOMERY FLOYD CARROLL AND ALL COUNTIES WEST OF THESE COUNTIES IN VIRGINIA... AT 810 PM RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY DOWNPOURS STRETCHING FROM PATRICK COUNTY NORTHEASTWARD THROUGH FRANKLIN EASTERN ROANOKE AND BEDFORD COUNTIES...AND INTO AMHERST COUNTY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 20 MPH. PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS CAN EXPECT VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. THE HEAVY RAIN COULD CAUSE SOME SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FOODING. A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA IS PRODUCING TORNADOES. THIS THUNDERSTORM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA WITHIN AN HOUR. PERSONS IN THE COUNTIES IN THE TORNADO WATCH AREA SHOULD STAY ALERT AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE COVER IF A WARNING IS ISSUED OR THREATENING APPRAOCHES. JJ
The office that day
Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 9:15 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RNK | Henry | 2 hr |
| May 6, 2:48 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Amherst, Appomattox, Campbell | 57 min |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in 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.