Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 48, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

October 12, 19904 counties in North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Oct 12, 1990, 7:03 PM EDT for 4 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 12, 1990, 7:03 PM EDT (23:03 UTC)
Expired
Oct 12, 1990, 10:00 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Avery County, NC, Burke County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, 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 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 173 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 12:00Z on 1990-10-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 92 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 12:00Z on 1990-10-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 86 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
92 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
590 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
209 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAVL 122303
FFWAVL
NCC111-023-027-011-130200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
703 PM EDT FRI OCT 12 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
      MCDOWELL...BURKE...CALDWELL...AVERY

AT 7 PM RADAR AND SURFACE REPORTS CONFIRM THAT RAIN IS STILL
PLAUGING THESE FOUR COUNTIES. THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL REPORTS OF
WATER ACROSS ROADS AND OVER BRIDGES. A BRIDGE IN CALDWELL COUNTY
COLLAPSED AND CARS WERE UP TO THEIR ROOFTOPS.

ALTHOUGH RAIN WILL BE SLACKING OFF SERIOUS FLOODING WILL OCCUR FOR
THE NEXT FEW HOURS BEFORE WATERS RECEDE.

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 IUN AREAS
SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

 SCOTT

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, Oct 12, 4:49 PM EDT, 2 hours 14 minutes before
SCZ001>004-122145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
447 AM EDT FRI OCT 12 1990

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMD CONTINUE OVER THE UPSTATE AREA...

AT 435 PM EDT WEATHER RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF RAIN OVER THE UPSTATE.
THE HEAVEST RAIN WAS IN WEST CHEROKEE COUNTY SOUTHWEST OF GAFFNEY AND
IN GREENVILLE COUNTY JUST SOUTH OF THE CITY OF GREENVILLE. THE STORMS
WERE MOVING TO THE NORTH AT 20 MPH.

RAINFALL AMOUNTHS OF 1.5 INCHES AN HOUR HAVE BEEN REPORTED THIS
AFTERNOON WITH THESE STORMS...THIS MAY CAUSE MORE FLOODING IN
THE UPSTATE AREA. LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNING
AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION IF A WARNING IS ISSUED.
VALVERDE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 12, 10:02 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPAvery4 hr
Oct 12, 12:27 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPGaston, Mecklenburg4 hr
Oct 12, 1:00 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPWatauga3 hr
Oct 12, 2:23 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPAvery4 hr
Oct 12, 2:23 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPWatauga97 min
Oct 12, 3:17 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPAshe4 hr
Oct 12, 3:34 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPBurke4 hr
Oct 12, 3:58 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPWatauga3 hr
Oct 12, 4:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPPolk, Rutherford2 hr
Oct 12, 5:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPCleveland2 hr
Oct 12, 6:37 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPGaston2 hr
Oct 12, 7:08 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPPolk, Rutherford2 hr
Oct 12, 7:25 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPWatauga3 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.