Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 80, NWS Charleston, WV

July 30, 1990Jackson County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Jul 30, 1990, 6:58 PM EDT for Jackson County, West Virginia. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 30, 1990, 6:58 PM EDT (22:58 UTC)
Expired
Jul 30, 1990, 10:00 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Jackson 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, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 88 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 1990-07-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 39 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 1990-07-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 40 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
39 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1232 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
57 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 302258
FFWCRW
WVC035-310200-
 
URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
658 PM EDT MON JUL 30 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED AN
URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN WEST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...NORTHERN JACKSON COUNTY
 
SEVERAL THUNDERSTORMS MOVED ACROSS NORTHERN JACKSON COUNTY DURING THIS
AFTERNOON SATURATING THE GROUND AND BRINGING STREAMS AND CREEKS TO
HIGH LEVELS. ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS
WHICH COULD DROP AROUND 1 INCH IN AN HOUR WILL BE MOVING
OVER JACKSON COUNTY DURING THE NEXT HOUR. THIS WILL CAUSE SOME SMALL
STREAMS AND CREEKS TO COME OUT OF THEIR BANKS FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL
HOURS.
 
SINCE STREAMS ARE AT ELEVATED LEVELS ALREADY PERSONS SHOULD BE
ON THE ALERT FOR RAPID RISES IN STREAM AND CREEK LEVELS AND BE
PREPARED TO QUICKLY MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A
SMALL ONE...ON FOOT.

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 30, 2:42 PM EDT, 4 hours 16 minutes before
WVZ006>008-302100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV
240 PM EDT MON JUL 30 1990

AT 235 PM EDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT BECKLEY SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL OVER NORTHERN MINGO AND WESTERN PUTNAM COUNTIES.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOPED
IN THE LAST HOUR AND EXTENDS FROM SOUTHEAST OHIO NEAR AMESVILLE SOUTH
THROUGH MASON AND PUTNAM COUNTIES TO NORTHERN MINGO COUNTY.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

VERY HEAVY RAINS FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE SOME SMALL STREAM
AND URBAN FLOODING.  THUNDERSTORMS MAY ALSO PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...
SMALL HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AS THEY MOVpE THROUGH WEST VIRGINIA.

GO TO A REINFORCED INDOOR SHELTER WHEN THESE THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH
AND WATCH FOR RISING WATER LEVELS.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IF FLOODING
OCCURS.

END/CGF
Special weather statement, Jul 30, 3:12 PM EDT, 3 hours 46 minutes before
WVZ002>009-012-VAZ015-016-302100-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
310 PM EDT MON JUL 30 1990

     ...LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVES INTO WEST VIRGINIA...

THUNDERSTORMS THAT FORMED IN EASTERN OHIO AND NORTHEASTERN KENTUCKY
DURING THE PAST HOUR AND A HALF HAVE MOVED INTO WEST VIRGINIA.

AT 305 PM...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN CHARLESTON SHOWED A LINE OF
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME STRONG...EXTENDING FROM CAMBRIDGE OHIO
TO MARIETTA AND PARKERSBURG TO RIPLEY IN JACKSON COUNTY TO NORTHWEST
OF CHARLESTON IN PUTNAM COUNTY.  THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE
IN THE RIPLEY AND MARIETTA AREAS.  ISOLATED THUNDERSHOWERS ALSO
EXTENDED SOUTH INTO MINGO COUNTY.  FURTHER WEST THERE WERE SCATTERED
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS OVER NORTHEASTERN KENTUCKY EXTENDING
NORTH TO NEAR COLUMBUS OHIO.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH.

END/REA
Special weather statement, Jul 30, 4:35 PM EDT, 2 hours 23 minutes before
WVZ002>009-012-VAZ015-016-302200-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
428 PM EDT MON JUL 30 1990

  ...THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS WESTERN AND NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA...

AT 415 PM...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN CHARLESTON SHOWED A LINE OF
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...EXTENDING
FROM 30 MILES WEST OF MORGANTOWN TO GRANTSVILLE TO SPENCER
TO THE HUNTINGTON AND LOUISA KENTUCKY AREA.  THE STRONGEST
THUNDERSTORMS WERE NEAR GRANTSVILLE IN CALHOUN COUNTY...JUST SOUTH OF
RIPLEY IN JACKSON COUNTY...AND SOUTHEAST OF HUNTINGTON IN WAYNE
COUNTY.  FURTHER WEST SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED
FROM NORTHEAST KENTUCKY INTO SOUTHEAST OHIO.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH.  THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO
THE GLENVILLE AREA BY 500 PM...AND INTO THE CHARLESTON AREA
AROUND 530 PM.  SOME OF THESE STORMS HAVE BEEN ACCOMPANIED BY RAINFALL
AMOUNTS OF UP TO AN INCH IN HALF AN HOUR.
END/REA

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.