Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 133, NWS Charleston, WV

December 18, 1990Jackson County, Wirt County, Wood County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Dec 18, 1990, 6:55 PM EST for Jackson County, Wirt County, Wood County, West Virginia. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 18, 1990, 6:55 PM EST (23:55 UTC)
Expired
Dec 18, 1990, 8:00 PM EST
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

Counties Jackson County, WV, Wirt County, WV, Wood 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

Huntington/Tri S, WV (KHTS), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 112 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, Huntington/Tri S, WV 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.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Huntington/Tri S, WV at 12:00Z on 1990-12-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -109 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 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
573 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
91 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-109 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
316 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 KCRW 182357
FFWCRW
WVC017-073-085-095-103-105-107-035-190100-
 
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
655 PM EST TUE DEC 18 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...DODDRIDGE COUNTY
 
IN NORTHWEST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...PLEASANTS COUNTY...RITCHIE COUNTY...TYLER COUNTY...WETZEL COUNTY
   ...WIRT COUNTY...WOOD COUNTY
 
IN WEST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...JACKSON COUNTY
 
THIS WARNING IS AN EXTENSION OF WARNINGS ALREADY IN EFFECT.
STEADY RAINFALL CONTINUES OVER MUCH OF WESTERN AND NORTHERN WEST
VIRGINIA CAUSING MANY STEAMS TO OVERFLOW THEIR BANKS. THE FLOODING HAS
CAUSED SEVERAL ROADS TO BE CLOSED INCLUDING NORTH 18 IN DODDRIDGE
COUNTY. MIDDLE ISLAND CREEK ALSO CONTINUES TO OVERFLOW ITS BANKS. THE
RAIN WILL CONTINUE FOR AN HOUR OR SO LONGER BEFORE TAPPERING OFF
CAUSING THE THREAT OF FLOODING TO CONTINUE. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE
ESPECIALLY CAREFUL SINCE WATER IS OVER THE ROAD AT MANY LOCATIONS.
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

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, 5 hours 40 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 WarningRLXMonongalia, Preston, Tucker3 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

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.