Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 49, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

October 12, 1990Polk County, Rutherford County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Oct 12, 1990, 7:08 PM EDT for Polk County, Rutherford County, North Carolina. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 12, 1990, 7:08 PM EDT (23:08 UTC)
Expired
Oct 12, 1990, 9:15 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Polk County, NC, Rutherford 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 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 193 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 12:00Z on 1990-10-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1990-10-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 97 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
624 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
97 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
191 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 122308
FFWAVL
NCC149-161-130115-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
      POLK...RUTHERFORD

ALTHOUGH THE RAIN HAS TAPERED OFF OR STOPPED IN POLK COUNTY SOME
ROADS AND BRIDGES REMAIN UNDER WATER..HOWEVER THEY SHOULD START
RECEEDING SOON.  IN RUTHERFORD COUNTY WATER FROM LAKE LURE HAS
BEEN RELEASED INTO THE BROAD RIVER RESULTING IN FURTHER RISES ALONG
THE RIVER.

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 WA[TER COVERS THE
ROADWAY..THE WATER DEPTH MAU BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOU TO CROSS
SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED
QUICKLY.  MOVE 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, Oct 12, 4:49 PM EDT, 2 hours 19 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, 7:03 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPAvery, Burke, Caldwell, McDowell3 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.