Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 15, 1990Craig County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at May 15, 1990, 8:15 PM EDT for Craig County, Virginia. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 15, 1990, 8:15 PM EDT (00:15 UTC)
Expired: May 15, 1990, 10:15 PM EDT
In force: 2 hr
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Whole counties

County Craig 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 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 158 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 72 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KROA 160018 RRA
FFWROA
VAC045-160215-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
815 PM EDT TUE MAY 15 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ROANOKE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA
          ...EASTERN CRAIG
 
WEATHER RADAR SHOWS A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS IN THE
VICINITY OF NEWCASTLE. THE STORM HAS BEEN MOVING ONLY SLOWLY...A SLOW
DRIFT TO THE SOUTHEAST.
 
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
ABANDONEDT QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
HM

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 15, 7:00 PM EDT, 1 hour 15 minutes before

VAZ009-014-015-162100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
315 PM EDT WED MAY 16 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ACROSS SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...

AT 300 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEATHER RADAR INDICATES
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS RAPIDLY DEVELOPING ALONG THE WESTERN
SLOPES OF THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS. THE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED
FROM JUST EAST OF ROANOKE SOUTHWEST TO SOUTHERN FLOYD COUNTY. THE
STRONGEST STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR THE CITY OF ROANOKE WITH SOME
SMALL HAIL BEING REPORTED.

THE STORMS WILL BE DRIFTING SLOWLY TO THE EAST OVER THE NEXT COUPLE
OF HOURS.  PEOPLE OVER WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHCENTRAL VIRGINIA SHOULD
BE PREPARED FOR SOME GUSTY WINDS...SMALL HAIL AND BRIEF BUT HEAVY
DOWNPOURS DURING THE LATTER PART OF THE AFTERNOON.  STAY TUNED TO
RADIO AND TV SOURCES FOR LATER UPDATES OR WARNINGS SHOULD THEY BE
NECESSARY...AND REMEMBER...PLEASE...DON'T DRIVE ACROSS FLOODED
ROADWAYS!

HM

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 15, 8:27 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Craig	48 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 1990 Every 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.