Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

February 16, 1990Cherokee County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Feb 16, 1990, 6:02 AM EST for Cherokee County, North Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Feb 16, 1990, 6:02 AM EST (11:02 UTC)
Expired
Feb 16, 1990, 9:00 AM EST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Cherokee 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

Athens Municipal, GA (KAHN), launched 00:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 149 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 00:00Z on 1990-02-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 00:00Z on 1990-02-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 131 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1378 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
131 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
171 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 KAVL 161102
FFWAVL
NCC039-161400-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
602 AM EST FRI FEB 16 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 AM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
      CHEROKEE

RADIO STATION WKRK IN MURPHY REPORTS AROUND FOUR INCHES OF RAIN
OVERNIGHT. ADDITINAL HEAVY RAIN THIS MORNING WILL RESULT IN WIDE-
SPREAD FLOODING UNTIL 9AM.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOU TO CROSS
SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED
QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES, DIPS OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  pNEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM, EVEN A SMALL ONE,
ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

AS

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, Feb 16, 5:10 AM EST, 52 minutes before
NCZ-009-010-011-012-161300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
510 AM EST FRI FEB 16 1990

...HEAVY RAIN ACROSS WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA THIS MORNING...

RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF ONE TO TWO INCHES WERE COMMON OVERNIGHT. THE HEAVY
RAIN CONTINUES ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS THIS FRIDAY MORNING.

SMALL STREAMS MAY QUICKLY GET OUT OF THIER BANKS RESULTING IN FLOODING.
STREETS AND HIGHWAYS WITH POOR DRAINAGE RISK GETTING WATER COVERED.)

PERSONS IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS SHOULD BE ALERT AND PREPARED TO MOVE
TO HIGHER GROUND. DRIVERS THIS MORNING SHOULD BE ON THE WATCH FOR
WATER COVERED ROADS.
AS
Special weather statement, Feb 16, 5:13 AM EST, 49 minutes before
NCZ-009-010-011-012-161300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
510 AM EST FRI FEB 16 1990

...HEAVY RAIN ACROSS WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA THIS MORNING...

RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF ONE TO TWO INCHES WERE COMMON OVERNIGHT. THE HEAVY
RAIN CONTINUES ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS THIS FRIDAY MORNING.

SMALL STREAMS MAY QUICKLY GET OUT OF THIER BANKS RESULTING IN FLOODING.
STREETS AND HIGHWAYS WITH POOR DRAINAGE RISK GETTIN/G WATER COVERED.

A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF THE MOUNTAINS TODAY.
PERSONS IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS SHOULD BE ALERT AND PREPARED TO MOVE
TO HIGHER GROUND. DRIVERS THIS MORNING SHOULD BE ON THE WATCH FOR
WATER COVERED ROADS.
AS
Special weather statement, Feb 16, 5:32 AM EST, 30 minutes before
SCZ001-002-161300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
530 AM EST FRI FEB 16 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN BEGIN TO AFFECT SOUTH CAROLINA
MOUNTAINS...MORE ON THE WAY...
AT 525 AM EST WEATHER RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS JUST MOVING INTO
THE SOUTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS.  THESE STORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN
SECTIONS OF OCONEE...PICKENS...GREENVILLE...AND SPARTANBURG COUNTIES.

THESE STORMS ARE JUST THE BEGINNING.  THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN CAUSING
SOME SEVERE WEATHER AND SOME RATHER SERIOUS FLASH FLOOD PROBLEMS
ACROSS PARTS OF ALABAMA AND NORTHERN GEORGIA OVERNIGHT.

THERE IS A CHANCE SOME THUNDERSTORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE ACROSS THE
UPSTATE TODAY...AND THEURE IS ALSO POTENTIAL FOR LARGE AMOUNTS OF RAIN.
THEREFORE...PEOPLE IN THE UPSTATE SHOULD KEEP ALERT FOR LATEST WEATHER
INFORMATION.
WAJ

The office that day

Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 16, 7:05 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPTransylvania3 hr
Feb 16, 7:53 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPGraham, Macon3 hr
Feb 16, 7:53 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPHenderson, Polk3 hr
Feb 16, 7:53 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPBuncombe3 hr
Feb 16, 9:10 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPCherokee2 hr
Feb 16, 9:10 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPMcDowell2 hr
Feb 16, 10:12 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPTransylvania3 hr
Feb 16, 12:52 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPCleveland4 hr
Feb 16, 2:06 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPCabarrus, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 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.