Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 46, NWS Blacksburg, VA

November 16, 1989Carroll County, Grayson County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Nov 16, 1989, 1:24 AM EST for Carroll County, Grayson County, Virginia. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Nov 16, 1989, 1:24 AM EST (06:24 UTC)
Expired
Nov 16, 1989, 3:30 AM EST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Carroll County, VA, Grayson 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, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 118 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 00:00Z on 1989-11-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 135 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 00:00Z on 1989-11-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 221 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
135 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-26 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
568 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
221 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
265 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Nov 15, 9:49 PM EST, 3 hours 35 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
945 PM   EST  WED NOV 15 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF
   WESTERN VIRGINIA UNTIL 1 AM EST...
AT 930 THIS EVENING A STRONG COLD FRONT CONTINUES MOVING TO THE EAST
THRU WESTERN WEST VIRGINIA AND EASTERN TENNESSEE AT AROUND 35 MPH.
AT THIS SPEED EXTREME WESTERN VIRGINIA MAY START EXPERIENCING SOME
GUSTY WINDS AHEAD OF THE FRONT ALONG WITH SOME LOCAL HEAVY SHOWERS
OR THUNDERSTORMS. SOME LOCAL WINDS MAY EXCEED 50 MPH AS THE GUST
FRONT AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH.

ANOTHER AREA OF CONCERN AT THIS TIME IS ALONG THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF
VIRGINIA WHICH JOINS THE TORNADO WATCH AREA TO OUR SOUTH IN WESTERN
NORTH CAROLINA. SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER MOVES OUT OF NORTH CAROLINA
TO THE  NORTHEAST...QUICK ACTION WOULD BE NECESSARY FOR THIS AREA.

MEANWHILE..REMAIN ALERT SHOULD FURTHUR STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS BECOME
NECESSARY.

WB
Special weather statement, Nov 15, 10:17 PM EST, 3 hours 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
945 PM   EST  WED NOV 15 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF
   WESTERN VIRGINIA UNTIL 1 AM EST...
AT 930 THIS EVENING A STRONG COLD FRONT CONTINUES MOVING TO THE EAST
THRU WESTERN WEST VIRGINIA AND EASTERN TENNESSEE AT AROUND 35 MPH.
AT THIS SPEED EXTREME WESTERN VIRGINIA MAY START EXPERIENCING SOME
GUSTY WINDS AHEAD OF THE FRONT ALONG WITH SOME LOCAL HEAVY SHOWERS
OR THUNDERSTORMS. SOME LOCAL WINDS MAY EXCEED 50 MPH AS THE GUST
FRONT AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH.

ANOTHER AREA OF CONCERN AT THIS TIME IS ALONG THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF
VIRGINIA WHICH JOINS THE TORNADO WATCH AREA TO OUR SOUTTH IN WESTERN
NORTH CAROLINA. SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER MOVES OUT OF NORTH CAROLINA
TO THE  NORTHEAST...QUICK ACTION WOULD BE NECESSARY FOR THIS AREA.

MEANWHILE..REMAIN ALERT SHOULD FURTHUR STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS BECOME
NECESSARY.

WB
Special weather statement, Nov 15, 11:29 PM EST, 1 hour 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
1125 PM EST WED NOV 15 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY DOWNPOURS MOVING INTO SOUTH CENTRAL
   VIRGINIA
AT 1115 PM EST THIS EVENING WEATHER RADAR DETECTED THUNDERSTORMS WITH
DOWNPOURS JUST EAST OF GALAX IN CARROLL COUNTY AND IN EASTERN PULASKI
COUNTY MOVING INTO MONTGOMVERY COUNTY VA NEAR RADFORD.

THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF STRONG GUSTY WINDS DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
LOCAL DOWMPOURS AND \LOCAL SMALL STREAM URBAN FLOODING ALONG WITH
PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS.

TAKE INDOOR SHELTER DURING THE PASSAGE OF THESE STORMS AND AVOID
AREAS PRONE TO SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOODING.

WB

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 15, 11:58 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKAlleghany, Wilkes3 hr
Nov 16, 1:24 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKMontgomery2 hr
Nov 16, 4:08 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKBotetourt, Roanoke2 hr

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.