Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Charleston, WV

May 22, 1990Raleigh County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at May 22, 1990, 8:20 AM EDT for Raleigh County, West Virginia. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 22, 1990, 8:20 AM EDT (12:20 UTC)
Expired
May 22, 1990, 9:15 AM EDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Raleigh 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, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 128 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 1990-05-22Temperature 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°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 1990-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 39 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
581 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
88 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 KBKW 221220
FFWBKW
WVC081-221315-
 
BULLETIN
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV
820 AM EDT TUE MAY 22 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BECKLEY WV HAS ISSUED A
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
          ...RALEIGH
 
RALEIGH COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORTS NUMEROUS ROADWAYS IN RALEIGH
COVERED BY STANDING WATER. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN BECKLEY
INDICATES RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL CONTINUE UNTIL ABOUT 900 AM
EDT. SAND BRANCH CREEK...COVE CREEK...AND MAPLE FORK CREEKS ARE
REPORTED TO BE OVERFLOWING THEIR BANKS. LOW LYING AREAS AND POOR
DRAINAGE AREAS MAY BE WATER COVERED....AND WILL REMAIN COVERED FOR
ABOUT THE NEXT TWO HOURS...UNTIL 10AM WHILE NATURAL DRAINAGE OCCURRES.
 
 
 
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.

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, May 22, 3:41 AM EDT, 4 hours 39 minutes before
WVZ006>008-220900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV
340 AM EDT TUE MAY 22 1990

AT 335 AM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT BECKLEY SHOWED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA. THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORM WAS
OVER MONROE COUNTY ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTH OF UNION. THE STORMS WERE MOVING
TO THE NORTHEAST AT AROUND 25 MPH.

THESE STORMS WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING...AN$D GUSTY WINDS. URBAN FLOODING MAY OCCUR. MOTORISTS SHOULD
NOT DRIVE THROUGH WATER OF UNKNOWN DEPTHS ON ROADWAYS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

END/BRAMBLE
Special weather statement, May 22, 7:40 AM EDT, 40 minutes before
WVZ006>008-220900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV
740 AM EDT TUE MAY 22 1990

AT 730 AM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT BECKLEY SHOWED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA. THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS
LOCATED FROM NEAR OAK HILL IN FAYETTE COUNTY SOUTHWEST TO NEAR WELCH IN
MCDOWELL COUNTY. HEAVY RAIN WAS ALSO OCCURRING OVER BECKLEY IN RALEIGH
COUNTY.

REPORTS OF ROADWAYS COVERED BY WATER HAVE BEEN RECEIVED. THE RAIN IS
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE...HEAVY AT TIMES...UNTIL ABOUT 8:30 AM.  ALTHOUGH
NO REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER HAVE BEEN RECEIVED...AREAS WITH POOR DRAINAGE
AND LOW LYING AREAS MAY BE COVERED WITH WATER. MORNING COMMUNTERS SHOULD
USE CAUTION...AND AVOID DRIVING THROUGH WATER COVERED ROADWAYS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.
END/RJC
Special weather statement, May 22, 7:53 AM EDT, 27 minutes before
WVZ002>009-0012-VAZ015-016-221500-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
745 AM EDT TUE MAY 22 1990

RAIN SPREAD INTO THE WESTERN PORTION OF WEST VIRGINIA AND SOUTHWEST
VIRGINIA LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SOME MODERATE TO HEAVY
RAINFALL FELL OVERNIGHT ACROSS THE REGION. RAINFALL AMOUNTS RANGED
FROM ONE HALF TO AROUND ONE INCH WITH SOME SPOTTY AMOUNTS TO AROUND
1.50 INCHES. THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT REPORTED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE WAS 2.15 INCHES AT CABIN CREEK IN EASTERN KANAWHA COUNTY.
GENERALLY LESS THAN ONE QUARTER OF AN INCH FELL NORTH FROM THE
PARKERSBURG AREA TO MORGANTOWN AND NORTH.

THERE HAVE BEEN NO REPORTS OF FLOODING PROBLEMS AT THIS TIME. RAIN IS
STILL FALLING OVER MUCH OF THE AREA...WITH THE HEAVIEST RAIN NOW
OCCURRING FROM THE CHARLESTON AREA NORTHEAST AND EAST THROUGH
SUTTON...SUMMERSVILLE AND WEBSTER SPRINGS. SOME AREAS MAY RECEIVE
ANOTHER 0.25 TO 0.50 INCHES OF RAIN BEFORE IT ENDS TODAY...BUT NO
SIGNIFICANT FLOODING PROBLEMS ARE ANTICIPATED.

THE STORM RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS RAINFALL EVENT WAS ENTERING WESTERN
NORTH CAROLINA THIS MORNING AND IS EXPECTED TO TRACK OFF THE NORTH
CAROLINA COAST DURING THE AFTERNOON. RAIN SHOULD END OVER MUCH OF THE
AREA BY DURING THE MORNING OR EARLY AFTERNOON...BUT SOME LIGHT RAIN OR
DRIZZLE IS LIKELY TO LINGER IN THE MOUNTAINS OF WEST VIRGINIA THIS
AFTERNOON. DRY WEATHER IS FORECAST FOR THE REGION FROM TONIGHT INTO
SATURDAY SO THE GROUND SHOULD HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO DRY BEFORE THE
NEXT RAINFALL.

END/ZINN

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.