Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 55, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

October 12, 1990Watauga County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Oct 12, 1990, 10:04 PM EDT for Watauga County, North Carolina. It was in force for 116 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 12, 1990, 10:04 PM EDT (02:04 UTC)
Expired
Oct 13, 1990, 12:00 AM EDT
In force
116 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Watauga 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, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 162 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 1990-10-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 356 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 1990-10-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 207 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
356 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
776 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
207 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
358 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAVL 130204
FFWAVL
NCC111-023-027-011-189-130400-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
1004 PM EDT FRI OCT 12 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1200 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

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

WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AND SATELLITES SHOW THAT MODERATE RAIN IS
STILL FALLING IN ASHE COUNTY.  IN THE OTHER COUNTIES OF THE WARNING
AREA IS HAS ENDED OR ONLY LIGHT RAIN IS FALLING.  HOWEVER MANY
STREAMS ARE STILL OUT OF THEIR BANKS SO THE WARNING IS BEING
EXTENDED.

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 NOTO DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER 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.

 MOORE

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, 5 hours 15 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, 8:59 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPAshe3 hr
Oct 12, 9:17 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPPolk, Rutherford103 min
Oct 12, 10:04 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPAvery, Burke, Caldwell, McDowell116 min

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.