Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 77, NWS Charleston, WV

July 22, 1990Kanawha County, Putnam County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Jul 22, 1990, 6:11 PM EDT for Kanawha County, Putnam County, West Virginia. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 22, 1990, 6:11 PM EDT (22:11 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 1990, 8:15 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

Counties Kanawha County, WV, Putnam 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, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 68 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 1990-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 13 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, Huntington/Tri S, WV at 12:00Z on 1990-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 77 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
13 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-99 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
971 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
66 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 222216
FFWCRW
WVC039-079-230015-
 
BULLETIN
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
611 PM EDT SUN JUL 22 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...S...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...KANAWHA COUNTY...PUTNAM COUNTY
 
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN ARE MOVING INTO WESTERN
PUTNAM COUNTY AT THIS TIME. THESE STORMS WILL MOVE INTO KANAWHA COUNTY
IN THE NEXT HALF HOUR. THUNDERSTORMS EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON PRODUCED
ONE HALF TO ONE INCH OF RAIN OVER PORTIONS OF THESE COUNTIES. THIS
ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL IS LIKELY TO PRODUCE URBAN AND SMALL STREAM
FLOODING.
 
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 HnIGHER 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, Jul 22, 3:38 PM EDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before
WVZ005-222045-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKINS WV
338 PM EDT SUN JUL 22 1990

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO HARRISON AND LEWIS COUNTIES

AT 3:29 PM EDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS FROM WESTERN MONONGALIA COUNTY SOUTHWEST TO JUST NORTH
OF BECKLEY WEST VIRGINIA. THE AREA CONTAINING THE HEAVIEST RAINS WERE
JUST ENTERING WESTERN HARRISON AND NORTHWESTERN LEWIS COUNTIES.

RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3/4 TO 1 INCH HAVE BEEN REPORTED AS THIS LINE OF
SHOWERS HAS MOVED WEST AT 25 TO 30 MPH FROM THE OHIO RIVER. THIS
COULD CAUSE MINOR FLOODING TO LOW LYING AREAS AND POOR DRAINAGE
LOCATIONS.

PERSONS LIVING ALONG..OR RECREATIONAL INiTERESTS ALONG SMALL STREAMS OR
CREEKS IN THE AREA OF THESE STORMS SHOULD WATCH WATER LEVELS CLOSELY.
KEEP A WATCH ON THE SKY AND MOVE TO SAFE SHELTER IF THREATENING
WEATHER IS OBSERVED.

GAV

NNNN
Special weather statement, Jul 22, 5:38 PM EDT, 33 minutes before
WVZ005-009-222245-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKINS WV
535 PM EDT SUN JUL 22 1990

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINS MOVING ACROSS THE
NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF WEST VIRGINIA...

AT 5:30 PM EDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A AN AREA OF SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINS EXTENDING FROM NORTHERN PRESTON
COUNTY SOUTH THROUGH TUCKER INTO RANDOLPH AND POCAHONTAS COUNTIES.
MORGANTOWN FLIGHT SERVICE STATION REPORTED .90 OF AN INCH OF RAIN IN
ABOUT AN HOUR AS A THUNDERSTORM PASSED BY THE AIRPORT.

SOME BASEMENT FLOODING AND POOR DRAINAGE FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED
IN THE NORTHERN MORGANTOWN AND STAR CITY AREAS. RAINS HAVE NOW MOVED
EAST OF THE CITY.

MOTORIST SHOULD BE ALERT TO PONDING WATER ON HIGHWAYS AND FLOODING TO
POOR DRAINAGE AREAS IF HEAVY RAINS OCCUR IN YOUR AREA.

PERSONS LIVING ALONG..OR RECREATIONAL INTERESTS ALONG SMALL STREAMS
OR CREEKS IN THE AREA OF THESE STORMS SHOULD WATCH WATER !LEVELS
CLOSELY. KEEP A WATCH ON THE SKY AND MOVE TO SAFE SHELTER IF
THREATENING WEATHER IS OBSERVED.

GILKERSON

END
Special weather statement, Jul 22, 5:46 PM EDT, 25 minutes before
WVZ002>009-012-VAZ013>016-KYZ006-008-OHZ007-009-222300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
545 PM EDT SUN JUL 22 1990

DO NOT USE AFTER 7 PM...

AT 530 PM EDT THE WEATHER RADAR AT CHARLESTON SHOWED A LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS WHICH STRECHED FROM MASON COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA
SOUTHWESTWARD TO AROUND THE WEST VIRGINIA AND KENTUCKY BORDER IN MARTIN
COUNTY KENTUCKY.  THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING EASTWARD AT 30
MPH.  LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS WITH
AMOUNTS OF 3/4 TO 1 1/4 INCHES IN AN HOUR.

AS A RESULT SOME BRIEF LOCALIZED URBAN AND STREET FLOODING CAN BE
EXPECTED AS THESE STORMS MOVE THROUGH WEST CENTRAL COUNTIES OF WEST
VIRGINIA.

ELSEWHERE IN WEST VIRGINIA THERE IS A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
WHICH STRECHES FROM THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF PRESTON COUNTY SOUTHWARD
ALONG THE MOUNTAINS TO NEAR LEWISBURG WITH A FEW SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS IN A( LINE FROM NICHOLAS TO KANAWHA COUNTIES.  THESE ARE
ALL MOVING EASTWARD AT AROUND 25 MPH.

THERE ARE ALSO SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SCATTERED THROUGHOUT
EASTERN KENTUCKY.

END AAR

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 22, 6:31 PM EDTTornado WarningRLXPleasants, Tyler29 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.