Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 124, NWS Charleston, WV

December 18, 1990Monongalia County, Preston County, Tucker County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Dec 18, 1990, 5:41 PM EST for Monongalia County, Preston County, Tucker County, West Virginia. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 18, 1990, 5:41 PM EST (22:41 UTC)
Expired
Dec 18, 1990, 9:00 PM EST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

Counties Monongalia County, WV, Preston County, WV, Tucker County, WV

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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 116 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1990-12-18Temperature 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1990-12-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 116 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
766 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
74 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
150 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 KEKN 182241
FFWEKN
WVC033-041-049-061-077-093-097-190200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING FOR STREAMS AND CREEKS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKINS WV
541 PM EST TUE DEC 18 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ELKINS HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING FOR STREAMS AND CREEKS EFFECTIVE UNTIL  900 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...HARRISON COUNTY...LEWIS COUNTY...MARION COUNTY...MONONGALIA COUN
   ...PRESTON COUNTY...TUCKER COUNTY...UPSHUR COUNTY
 
STREAMS AND CREEKS ACROSS THE WARNED AREA ARE RUNNING BANKFULL WITH
SEVERAL STREAMS OUT OF THEIR BANKS. WEATHER RADAR INDICATES AN AREA OF
MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN MOVING INTO NORTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA. THIS
ADDITIONAL RAIN WILL CAUSE FURTHER PROBLEMS WITH THE ALREADY SWOLLEN
STREAMS. MINOR FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED ACROSS...MONONGALIA...
PRESTON...LEWIS...HARRISON AND MARION COUNTIES TODAY. RAINFALL HAS
AVERAGED FROM 1 TO 2.5 INCHES ACROSS THE WARNED AREA.
 
THE HEAVIER RAINS SHOULD LAST AROUND A HALF AN HOUR THEN FOLLOWED BY
MORE LIGHT RAIN. BE ALERT ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT WHEN FLOOD WATERS ARE
HARDER TO RECOGNIZE.
 
TO REPORT FLOODING ASK YOUR NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RELAY
YOUR REPORTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
 
 
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.
 
GILKERSON
 
NNNN

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, Dec 18, 1:15 PM EST, 4 hours 26 minutes before
WVZ03-KYZ006-OHZ09-182000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTINGTON WV
115 PM EST TUE DEC 18 1990

A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON FOR SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO...
UNTIL 0800 PM FOR WESTERN WEST VIRGINIA...ALL DAY FOR EASTERN
KENTUCKY...

AT 100 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED LIGHT RAIN OCCURRING OVER
SOUTHERN OHIO...EASTERN KENTUCKY AND WESTERN WEST VIRGINIA...
RAIN AMOUNTS OF ONE TO TWO INCHES HAVE BEEN REPORTED.  MOST SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS ARE AT OR ABOVE BANKFUL.

NUMEROUS SECONDARY ROADS ARE BLOCKED ACROSS THE TRI-STATE AREA...
ESPECIALLY IN SOUTHERN OHIO.  MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE EXTEME
CAUTION WHILE DRIVING ACROSS THE AREA.

HOWEVER..THERE WERE ISOLATED HEAVIER SHOWERS ACROSS SOUTHERN OHIO.
THIS ADDED TO THE ALREADY SATURATED GROUND AND SWOLLEN CREEKS
WILL CONTINUE THE POSSIBILITY FOR FLOODING.

HATFIELD/COSTELLO

The office that day

Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 18, 7:14 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXHarrison, Marion, Monongalia3 hr
Dec 18, 7:14 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXDoddridge3 hr
Dec 18, 8:52 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXJackson, Pleasants, Ritchie, Wirt, Wood6 hr
Dec 18, 8:52 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXTyler, Wetzel6 hr
Dec 18, 9:28 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXPreston6 hr
Dec 18, 9:47 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXMarion, Monongalia, Preston6 hr
Dec 18, 9:47 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXDoddridge, Harrison6 hr
Dec 18, 2:36 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXHarrison, Marion, Monongalia3 hr
Dec 18, 2:36 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXPreston3 hr
Dec 18, 2:49 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXJackson, Ritchie, Wirt, Wood4 hr
Dec 18, 2:49 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXDoddridge, Wetzel4 hr
Dec 18, 2:49 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXPleasants4 hr
Dec 18, 4:18 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXDoddridge, Pleasants, Ritchie, Tyler, Wirt, Wood2 hr
Dec 18, 4:18 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXWetzel2 hr
Dec 18, 4:18 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXJackson2 hr
Dec 18, 5:41 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXHarrison, Lewis, Upshur3 hr
Dec 18, 5:41 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXMarion3 hr
Dec 18, 6:55 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXDoddridge, Pleasants, Ritchie, Tyler, Wetzel65 min
Dec 18, 6:55 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXJackson, Wirt, Wood65 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 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.