Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 23, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

May 4, 1990Macon County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at May 4, 1990, 4:54 AM EDT for Macon County, North Carolina. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 4, 1990, 4:54 AM EDT (08:54 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 1990, 7:00 AM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Macon 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, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 134 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 1990-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1249 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 1990-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1249 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1512 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
105 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KAVL 040854
FFWAVL
NCC113-041100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
454 AM EDT FRI MAY 4 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
      MACON

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN HAVE CAUSED FLOODING
IN THE CITY OF FRANKLIN AND ACROSS MUCH OF MACON COUNTY.  THE
STORMS ARE CONTINUING TO DEVELOP SO THAT THE HEAVY RAIN IS ALMOST
CONSTANT.  SOME EVACUATIONS HAVE BEEN NECESSARY.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED,
ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO NOT STAY IN AREAS
SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

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, May 4, 12:48 AM EDT, 4 hours 6 minutes before
NCZ009-010-011-040645-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
1247 AM EDT FRI  APR 4  1990

AT 1240AM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF SHOWERS WITH A FEW
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN EASTERN TENNESSEE FROM EAST OF CHATTANOOGA TO
EAST OF KNOXVILLE.  THESE WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

SOME OF THE SHOWERS AND STORMS MAY MOVE INTO WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
COUNTIES ADJACENT TO THE TENNESSEE BORDER DURING THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.

STRONG WINDS..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND HEAVY RAIN ARE POSSIBLE WITH
THESE STORMS.
HM
Special weather statement, May 4, 2:08 AM EDT, 2 hours 46 minutes before
NCZ007-009-010-011-012-013-040800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
208 AM EDT FRI  APR 4  1990

AT 200 AM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE NORTH CAROLINA TENNESSEE BORDER.  ANOTHER
AREA EXTENDED FROM ASHEVILLE TO HIGHLANDS.  THEY WERE MOVING NORTHEAST
AT 30 MPH.

SOME OF THE STORMS MAY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN AS
WELL AS DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.
HM

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.