Alert archive / Vermont / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 26, NWS Burlington, VT

March 20, 1990Caledonia County, Essex County, Vermont

NWS Burlington, VT issued this flash flood warning at Mar 20, 1990, 10:47 AM EST for Caledonia County, Essex County, Vermont. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 20, 1990, 10:47 AM EST (15:47 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 1990, 2:45 PM EST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Burlington, VT
Area
Whole counties

Counties Caledonia County, VT, Essex County, VT

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

Gray, ME (KGYX), launched 12:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 154 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, Gray, ME at 12:00Z on 1990-03-20Temperature 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 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Gray, ME at 12:00Z on 1990-03-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 240 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
3534 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
240 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
415 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 KBTV 201551 RRA
FFWBTV
VTC005-009-201945-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
1047 AM EST TUE MAR 20 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BURLINGTON VT HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN NORTHEAST VERMONT
          ...EASTERN CALEDONIA...SOUTHERN ESSEX
 
THE RED CROSS REPORTED THAT THE CONNECTICUT RIVER HAS LEFT ITS BANK
NEAR THE TOWN OF LUNENBURG IN ESSEX COUNTY. THREE HOUSES ARE INVOLVED
AND 2 HAVE BEEN EVACUATED AND WATER IS POURING INTO THE OTHER.
 
THE COMBINATION OF SNOWMELT AND RAINFALL HAS PUSHED THE UPPER CONNECTICURIVER OUT OF ITS BANKS. THE MIXED RAIN AND SNOW WILL CONTINUE FOR THE
NEXT FEW HOURS AND THE RIVER WILL CONTINUE TO RISE.
 
 
 
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, Mar 20, 8:20 AM EST, 2 hours 27 minutes before
VTZALL-NY011-201730-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
820 AM EST TUE MAR 20 1990

...A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF VERMONT EXCEPT
   THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY THROUGH TONIGHT.
...A WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH TONIGHT FOR THE CHAMPLAIN
   VALLEY AND NORTHEAST NEW YORK.

THERE IS VERY HEAVY WET SNOW FALLING OVER MANY SECTIONS OF THE GREEN
MOUNTAIN STATE ESPICALLY IN THE 1000 TO 1500 FOOT EVEVATIONS:

PERU..........5 INCHES/WINDHAM COUNTY
LUDLOW........3 INCHES/WINDSOR COUNTY
DANBY.........3 INCHES/RUTLAND COUNTY
BRAINTREE.....10 INCHES/ORANGE COUNTY
WILLIAMSTON...7 INCHES/ORANGE COUNTY
MONTPELIER....5 INCHES/WASHINGTON COUNTY
THE SNOW IS ACCUMULATING VERY RAPIDLY OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS AND
ANY TRAVEL ACROSS VERMONT WILL BE EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS. TOTAL SNOWFALL
IN THESE AREAS COULD PILE UP TO A FOOT OR MORE.

RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES IS FALLING OVER THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY OF VERMONT
AND NEW YORK. AS THE TEMPERATURE SLOWLY FALLS FROM THE MIDDLE 30S...THIS
RAIN WILL MIX WITH SNOW AND THEN CHANGE TO ALL SNOW. ACCUMULATIONS OF
6 INCHES OR MORE ARE POSSIBLE. THIS INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:
VERMONT....ADDISON...CHITTENDEN...FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE.
NEW YORK...CLINTON.

OVER THE REMAINDER OF VERMONT A MIXTURE OF RAIN AND SNOW IS FALLING...
THIS MIXTURE WILL CHANGE TO ALL SNOW AND THE SNOW WILL ACCUMULATE A FOOT
OR MORE.

THIS HEAVY WET SNOW WILL CAUSE SOME TREE LIMBS TO FALL AND POWER OUTAGES
CAN BE EXPECTED.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION AND TRAVEL SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED UNLESS
ITS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.

A STORM AREA OVER THE NEW JERSEY COAST WILL MOVE NORTHEAST ALONG THE NEW
ENGLAND COAST TODAY.
^
THE NEXT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 1230 PM.

END/ADAMSON...

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Vermont, 1990Every flash flood warning in 1990

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.