Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Blacksburg, VA

March 17, 1990Henry County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Mar 17, 1990, 11:28 AM EST for Henry County, Virginia. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 17, 1990, 11:28 AM EST (16:28 UTC)
Expired
Mar 17, 1990, 1:30 PM EST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Henry County, VA

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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 4.5 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1990-03-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 98 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1990-03-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 259 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
98 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
674 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
259 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
308 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KROA 171629 RRA
FFWROA
VAC690-089-171830-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
1128 AM EST SAT MAR 17 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ROANOKE HAS ISSUED A
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  130 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA
          ...CITY MARTINSVILLE...HENRY
 
HEAVY RAIN DURING THE PAST 6 HOURS IN HENRY COUNTY HAS CAUSED SEVERAL
SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS TO RISE OUT OF THIER BANKS. RADAR INDICATES
MORE RAIN...POSSIBLY HEAVY AT TIMES...FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT COUPLE OF
HOURS. CREEKS AND SMALLL STREAMS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN OUT OF THIER
BANKS FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS.
 
 
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.
JACKSON

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, Mar 17, 7:21 AM EST, 4 hours 7 minutes before
VAZ-008-009-013-014-015-016-271200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
715 AM  EST SAT MAR 17 1990

...HEAVY SHOWERS IN PATRICK COUNTY VIRGINIA..

WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE 4OF HEAVY SHOWERS OVER CENTRAL PATRICK
COUNTY IN VIRGINIA MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.
THIS LINE OF SHOWERS COULD PRODUCE SOME STRONG GUSTY WINDS
AS IT MOVES THROUGH THE COUNTY.

CG
Special weather statement, Mar 17, 7:22 AM EST, 4 hours 6 minutes before
VAZ-008-009-013-014-015-016-171300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
715 AM  EST SAT MAR 17 1990

...HEAVY SHOWERS IN PATRICK COUNTY VIRGINIA..

WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE 5OF HEAVY SHOWERS OVER CENTRAL PATRICK
COUNTY IN VIRGINIA MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.
THIS LINE OF SHOWERS COULD PRODUCE SOME STRONG GUSTY WINDS
AS IT MOVES THROUGH THE COUNTY.

CG
Special weather statement, Mar 17, 7:44 AM EST, 3 hours 44 minutes before
VAZ-008-009-014-171400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
730 AM  EST SAT MAR 17 1990

...HEAVY SHOWERS OVER WESTERN FRANKLIN AND WESTERN HENRY IN VIRGINIA..

AT 725 EST RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF HEAVY SHOWERS FROM WESTERN FRANKLIN
COUNTY SOUTH TO WESTERN HENRY COUNTY AND DOWN INTO NORTH CAROLINA.
THIS LINE OF SHOWERS IS MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS IS POSSIBLE WITH SOME MINOR STREET FLOODING.
iCG

The office that day

Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 17, 1:31 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKHenry119 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in 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.