Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 30, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

August 25, 1990McDowell County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Aug 25, 1990, 4:05 AM EDT for McDowell County, North Carolina. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 25, 1990, 4:05 AM EDT (08:05 UTC)
Expired
Aug 25, 1990, 8:00 AM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County McDowell 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 00:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 199 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 1990-08-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 574 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 1990-08-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 13 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
574 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
878 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
33 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 250806
FFWAVL
NCC111-251200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
405 AM EDT SAT AUG 25 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ASHEVILLE HAS ISSUED A
 
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN WEST NORTH CAROLINA
          ...WESTERN MCDOWELL
 
PERSISTENT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DUMPED NEARLY SIX INCHES OF
RAIN OVER THE OLD FORT AREA IN MCDOWELL COUNTY SINCE 10 PM FRIDAY...
ACCORDING TO SATELLITE PRECIPITATION ESTIMATES. MILL CREEK IN OLD FORT
WAS ALREADY SWOLLEN TO NEAR BANK FULL AND FLOODING IS IMMINENT ALONG
MILL CREEK...ESPECIALLY NEAR DOWNTOWN OLD FORT.
 
 
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.
 
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.
CC

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, Aug 24, 11:15 PM EDT, 4 hours 50 minutes before
NCZ 007-009-010-011-012-013-250400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
1115 PM EDT FRI AUG 24 1990

...SHOWERS LINGER ACROSS PARTS OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...

AT 1115 PM RADAR SHOWED A FEW HEAVY SHOWERS AROUND THE ASHEVILLE
AREA. THESE SHOWERS WERE NOT MOVING MUCH SO SOME SPOTS HAVE BEEN
GETTING SUBSTANTIAL RAINFALL.

A TELEMETERED AUTOMATIC RAIN GUAGE AT BEAVERDAM CREEK IN NORTHERN
BUNCOME COUNTY HAS MEASURED 1.71 INCHES OF RAIN BETWEEN 9 AND 11 PM.

THESE SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TO PERSIST FOR ANOTHER HOUR OR TWO BEFORE
DYING OUT. SOME MINOR STREET FLOODING CAN BE EXPECTED...ESPECIALLY
IN NORTHERN BUMBOME COUNTY.
SCOTT
Special weather statement, Aug 25, 3:12 AM EDT, 53 minutes before
NCZ 007-009-010-011-012-013-251000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
305 AM EDT SAT AUG 25 1990

...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 8 AM THIS MORNING FOR AVERY...MITCHELL...YANCEY...
MCDOWELL...BUNCOMBE...HENDERSON...POLK AND RUTHERFORD COUNTIES IN THE
MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS OF NORTH CAROLINA...

FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS HAS BEEN REPORTED IN THE OLD FORT
AREA OF MCDOWELL COUNTY AND NEAR LINVILLE IN EXTREME NORTHERN MCDOWELL
COUNTY AND SOUTHERN AVERY COUNTY. LOW LEVEL PUBLIC RECREATION AREAS IN
AVERY COUNTY NEAR NEWLAND WERE REPORTED UNDER WATER WITH OTHER STREAMS
IN AVERY COUNTY REACHING THEIR BANKS.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE CONTINUED OVER PARTS OF THE MOUNTAINS
AND FOOTHILLS SINCE 9 PM FRI NIGHT. SOME OF THE SHOWERS AND STORMS
WERE PRODUCING HEAVY RAINFALL. IN ADDITION TO THE HEAVY RAINFALL...
THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING VERY SLOW OR REDEVELOPING
AND PRODUCING A TRAIN EFFECT OF RAIN OVER THE SAME AREA. THIS
PERSISTENT TRAIN EFFECT OF RAINFALL WILL LEAD TO MORE FLOODING OF
SMALL STREAMS AS WELL AS URBAN AND OTHER POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE QUICK
ACTION IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED OR A FLOOD WARNING IS ISSUED. THE
NEXT STATEMENT WILL ISSUED BEFORE 8 AM.

HERE ARE SOME RAINFALL TOTALS FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS SINCE 9 PM
FRIDAY...
BUNCOMBE COUNTY...BEAVERDAM             2.23 INCHES
BUNCOMBE COUNTY...MT. PISGAH       v     2.88 INCHES
HENDERSON COUNTY...SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN   1.42 INCHES
HAYWOOD COUNTY...DANIEL RIDGE           1.59 INCHES
YANCEY COUNTY...NEAR MT. MITCHELL       0.96 INCHES
CC

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.