Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 22, 1990Roanoke County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at May 22, 1990, 12:26 AM EDT for Roanoke County, Virginia. It was in force for 64 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 22, 1990, 12:26 AM EDT (04:26 UTC)
Expired
May 22, 1990, 1:30 AM EDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Roanoke 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, 4.4 hours before the alert went out and 126 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 00:00Z on 1990-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1990-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 0 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
0 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
37 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 KROA 220427 RRA
FFWROA
VAC770-161-220530-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
1226 AM EDT TUE MAY 22 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ROANOKE HAS ISSUED A
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  130 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
          ...CTY OF ROANOKE...ROANOKE
 
AT 1230 AM EDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATES SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS THE SOUTHERN SHENANDOAH AND ROANOKE VALLEYS AND EXTENDING
ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE INTO WESTERN BEDFORD COUNTY. THESE THUNDERTORMS
HAVE CONTAINED VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. ROANOKE
REGIONAL AIRPORT HAS MEASURED NEAR 1.50 INCHES OF RAIN SINCE AROUND
1100 PM MONDAY EVENING. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING EASTWARD AT 30
MPH.
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...A&CT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
END/DOC

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 22, 12:00 AM EDT, 26 minutes before
VAZ008-009-014-220500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
1200 AM  EDT  TUE MAY 22 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER ROANOKE VALLEY AREA...

AT 1155 PM RADAR SHOWED A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN
OVER BOTETOURT COUNTY...THE CITY OF ROANOKE AND EASTERN ROANOKE COUNTY..
AND ALSO EASTERN FRANKLIN COUNTY. THESE STORMS ARE DUMPING UP TO 1 INCH
OF RAIN IN SOME AREAS IN LESS THAN AN HOURS TIME. THIS COULD CAUSE SOME
FLOODING IN LOW LYING AREAS...ESPECIALLY URBAN AREAS.

THESE STORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO BEDFORD COUNTY WITHIN THE HOUR.
MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO SLOW DOWN AND DRIVE WITH EXTREME CAUTION IN
THE VERY HEAVY RAIN.

END/JJ

$

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.