Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 73, NWS Charleston, WV

July 15, 1990Hampshire County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Jul 15, 1990, 3:21 PM EDT for Hampshire County, West Virginia. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 15, 1990, 3:21 PM EDT (19:21 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 1990, 5:30 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Hampshire 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 7.4 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 1990-07-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 130 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 1990-07-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 143 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
130 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-31 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
590 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
143 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
149 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KEKN 151921
FFWEKN
WVC027-152130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKINS WV
321 PM EDT SUN JUL 15 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ELKINS HAS ISSUED A
URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...HAMPSHIRE COUNTY
 
WEATHER RADAR AT 317 PM EDT INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER
SOUTHWEST ALLEGANY COUNTY MARYLAND EXTENDING SOUTHEAST INTO SOUTHERN
MINERAL COUNTY. THESE STORMS PRODUCED NEARLY 1.00 OF RAIN IN
WESTERNPORT AND STILL RAINING HARD. FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED IN
WESTERNPORT WITH BASEMENTS AND STREETS FLOODED. THE AREA OF STORMS
WILL MOVE NORTHEAST INTO THE CITY OF CUMBERLAND MARYLAND AND ACROSS
HAMPSHIRE COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA. GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND
HEAVY RAINS WILL OCCUR WITH THESE STORMS.
 
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.
 
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, Jul 15, 11:38 AM EDT, 3 hours 43 minutes before
WVZ006>008-151700-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV
1135 AM EDT SUN JUL 15 1990

AT 1130 AM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT BECKLEY SHOWED A 5 MILE
WIDE LINE OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SHOWERS EXTENDING FROM JUST NORTH OF UNION
IN MONROE COUNTY NORTH TO CLEARCO IN NORTHERN GREENBRIER COUNTY.

THIS LINE OF SHOWERS WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT AROUND 20 MPH AND WILL BE
MOVING OUT OF WEST VIRGINIA BY AROUND 1 PM.

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

END/CDB
Special weather statement, Jul 15, 11:45 AM EDT, 3 hours 36 minutes before
WVZ006>008-151700-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV
1135 AM EDT SUN JUL 15 1990

AT 1130 AM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT BECKLEY SHOWED A 5 MILE
WIDE LINE OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SHOWERS EXTENDING FROM JUST NORTH OF UNION
IN MONROE COUNTY NORTH TO CLEARCO IN NORTHERN GREENBRIER COUNTY.

THIS LINE OF SHOWERS WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT AROUND 20 MPH AND WILL BE
MOVING OUT OF WEST VIRGINIA BY AROUND 1 PM.

BRIEF VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS WILL OCCURE AS THESE SHOWERS MOVE THROUGH
SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA.

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

END/CDB
Special weather statement, Jul 15, 12:43 PM EDT, 2 hours 38 minutes before
WVZ002>009-012-VA015-016-151300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON, WV
1240 PM EDT SUN JUL 15 1990

...BE PATIENT WET VIRGINIA AND SOUTHWET VIRGINIA..DRY WEATHER IS ON
THE WAY...

AT NOON TODAY A COLD FRONT WAS MAKING ITS WAY ACROSS WEST VIRGINIA
AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. THE FRONT EXTENDS FROM NEAR MORGANTOWN TO
LEWISBURG AND SOUTH THROUGH THE EASTERN PORTION OF THE NEW RIVER VALLEY
IN VIRGINIA...JUST TO THE WEST OF ROANOKE. A BAND OF SHOWERS HAS BEEN
ACCOMPANYING THE FRONT AS IT MOVES EAST...AND SOME BRIEF HEAVY
DOWNPOURS ARE POSSIBLE.

THE EXTENSIVE RAIN OF THE PAST FEW DAYS THAT HAS AFFECTED THE REGION
WILL END TODAY. SOME CLEARING WILL TAKE PLACE IN WESTERN WEST VIRGINIA
DURING THE AFTERNOON. SKIES ARE FORECAST TO BECOME PARTLY CLOUDY
OVERNIGHT WITH CONSIDERABLE SUN EXPECTED MONDAY. MOST RIVERS ACROSS THE
REGION WERE RUNNING ABOVE NORMAL...BUT NO RIVER FLOODING IS EXPECTED.

THE LITTLE KANAWHA RIVER WAS SHOWING THE STRONGEST RISE WHERE
LEVELS WERE RUNNING NEAR THREE QUARTER BANKFULL IN THE GLENVILLE AREA
AT NOON. THE RIVER IS NEAR CREST AND WILL BEGIN FALLING DURING THE
AFTERNOON.  FURTHER DOWNSTREAM THROUGH GRANTSVILLE AND ELIZABETH
A CREST OF A LITTLE OVER HALF BANKFULL IS EXPECTED OVERNIGHT.

ALTHOUGH THE THREAT OF FLOOD PRODUCING RAINS HAS EASED OVER MUCH
OF WEST VIRGINIA...A FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT IN FOR THE NORTHERN
PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA UNTIL 400 PM THIS AFTERNOON. A FLASH FLOOD
WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR TH POTOMAC HIGHLANDS AND THE EASTERN
PANHANDLE UNTIL 800 PM TONIGHT.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A FLOOD
WARNING FOR BROOKE...HANCOCK AND OHIO COUNTIES IN THE NORTHERN
PANH6ANDLE UNTIL 315 PM THIS AFTERNOON.

END/PCZ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 14, 10:25 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXHarrison3 hr
Jul 15, 2:49 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXMineral116 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.