Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990
Flash Flood Warning 11, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Feb 16, 1990, 2:06 PM EST for 4 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 4 hr.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 16, 1990, 2:06 PM EST (19:06 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 16, 1990, 6:15 PM EST
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Cabarrus County, NC, Gaston County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, Mecklenburg 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, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 124 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
- 6 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -78 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 726 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 64 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 344 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 365 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KCLT 161906
FFWCLT
NCC025-119-071-109-162315-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC
206 PM EST FRI FEB 16 1990
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLOTTE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 615 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
...CABARRUS...MECKLENBURG
IN WEST NORTH CAROLINA
...GASTON...LINCOLN
HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES TO FALL THROUGHOUT LINCOLN... GASTON...
MECKLENBURG AND CABARRUS COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA. RAIN HAS BEEN
FALLING FOR SEVERAL HOURS AND IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL MORE
HOURS. STREAMS ARE NEAR OR AT BANKFULL IN ALL FOUR COUNTIES. WITH MORE
HEAVY RAIN IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTHERN
PIEDMONT STREAMS IN LINCOLN... GASTON... MECKLENBURG AND CABARRUS
COUNTIES WILL OVERFLOW THEIR BANKS THIS AFTERNOON.
THIS IS A CRITICAL SITUATION FOR EVERYONE IN THE SOUTHERN PIEDMONT.
HIGHWAY TRAVEL WILL BE ESPECIALLY DANAGEROUS DUE TO OVERFLOWING
STREAMS... DRAINAGE DITCHES AND POOLING OF WATER ON HIGHWAYS. ONLY
URGENT TRAVEL SHOULD BE UNDERTAKEN THIS AFTERNOON.
THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING MAY BE EXTENDED TO COVER OTHER COUNTIES IN THE
AREA. BE ALERT SHOULD SUCH WARNINGS BE REQUIRED.
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. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT. TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP 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, Feb 16, 8:14 AM EST, 5 hours 52 minutes before
SCZ001>004-161500- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC 815 AM EST FRI FEB 16 1990 ...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 100 PM EST INCLUDES ALL UPSTATE COUNTIES... AT 810 AM EST WEATHER RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARD ANDERSON COUNTY. BASED ON THE CURRENT MOVEMENT THESE STORMS SHOULD CROSS INTO SOUTH CAROLINA BETWEEN 830 AM AND 900 AM. ALTHOUGH THE ENTIRE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS HAS WEAKENED SOMEWHAT... REDEVELOPMENT COULD OCCUR QUICKLY. SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE WAS REPORTED WITH THIS LINE OF STORMS EARLIER IN GEORGIA. OTHERWISE...RAIN WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS COVERED MOST OF THE UPSTATE AT 810 AM. THE THREAT OF SOME FLOODING WILL INCREASE AS THE RAIN CONTINUES...ESPECIALLY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS WHERE THE LARGEST RAINFALL AMOUNTS /UP TO 2 INCHES/ HAVE BEEN REPORTED SO FAR. WAJ
Special weather statement, Feb 16, 12:37 PM EST, 1 hour 29 minutes before
SCZ001>004-161900- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC 1235 PM EST FRI FEB 16 1990 ...TORNADO WATCH CANCELLED FOR THE THE SOUTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS...WHICH INCLUDES OCONEE...ANDERSON...PICKENS... GREENVILLE...SPARTANBURG...CHEROKEE...AND ABBEVILLE COUNTIES. AT 1230 THIS AFTERNOON A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM CENTRAL GEORGIA INTO THE SOUTH CAROLINA PIEDMONT...NEAR GREENWOOD AND CLINTON. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST 45 MILES AN HOUR...WITH HEAVY RAIN... FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND GUSTY WIND. MUSGROVE
Special weather statement, Feb 16, 12:49 PM EST, 1 hour 17 minutes before
SCZ001>004-161930- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC 1245 PM EST FRI FEB 16 1990 ...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 6 PM FOR PORTIONS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA PIEDMONT...WHICH INCLUDES UNION...LAURENS...AND GREENWOOD COUNTIES... AT 1245 THIS AFTERNOON A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING THROUGH THE PIEDMONT COUNTIES...AND EXTENDED FROM MCCORMICK...TO NINETY SIX...TO WHITMIRE. THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST 45 MILES AN HOUR AND PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND GUSTY WIND. A BROAD AREA OF HEAVY RAIN AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES ACROSS THE UPSTATE AREAS OF THE PALMETTO STATE...WITH LITTLE CHANGE INDICATED FOR THE NEXT TWO TO THREE HOURS. MUSGROVE
Special weather statement, Feb 16, 2:02 PM EST, 4 minutes before
SCZ001>004-162000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC 200 PM EST FRI FEB 16 1990 ...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 6 PM FOR PORTIONS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA PIEDMONT...WHICH INCLUDES UNION...LAURENS...AND GREENWOOD COUNTIES... AT 2 OCLOCK THIS AFTERNOON MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN WAS FALLING THROUGHOUT THE FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT AREAS OF SOUTH CAROLINA ...WITH LIGHT RAIN OVER THE MOUNTAINS. A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN BETWEEN ANDEERSON...SPARTANBURG... AND LAURENS. THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST ABOUT 45 MILES AN HOUR. MUSGROVE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 16, 6:02 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Cherokee | 3 hr |
| Feb 16, 7:05 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Transylvania | 3 hr |
| Feb 16, 7:53 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Graham, Macon | 3 hr |
| Feb 16, 7:53 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Henderson, Polk | 3 hr |
| Feb 16, 7:53 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Buncombe | 3 hr |
| Feb 16, 9:10 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Cherokee | 2 hr |
| Feb 16, 9:10 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | McDowell | 2 hr |
| Feb 16, 10:12 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Transylvania | 3 hr |
| Feb 16, 12:52 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Cleveland | 4 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.