Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1991

Flash Flood Warning 21, NWS Charleston, WV

December 2, 1991Fayette County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Dec 2, 1991, 5:22 PM EST for Fayette County, West Virginia. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 2, 1991, 5:22 PM EST (22:22 UTC)
Expired
Dec 2, 1991, 8:30 PM EST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Fayette County, WV

The nearest sounding before it

Huntington/Tri S, WV (KHTS), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 130 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 1991-12-02Temperature 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°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 1991-12-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 69 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
534 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
83 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
69 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
205 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 KBKW 022226
FFWBKW
WVC019-081-109-045-030130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV
522 PM EST MON DEC 2 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BECKLEY WV HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING                  EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...S...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...FAYETTE COUNTY...RALEIGH COUNTY...WYOMING COUNTY
 
IN SOUTHWEST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...LOGAN COUNTY
 
AT 515 PM THIS EVENING WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT BECKLEY SHOWED A LINE
OF VERY HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM KANAWHA
COUNTY SOUTHWEST THROUGH BOONE...LOGAN...AND MINGO COUNTIES. THIS LINE
OF VERY HEAVY RAIN WILL MOVE INTO FAYETTE...RALEIGH...AND WYOMING
COUNTIES WITHIN THE HOUR.
 
CREEKS AND STREAMS IN THIS AREA ARE RUNNING HIGH AND VERY HEAVY RAINS
ARE EXPECTED TO TAKE THE WATER OUT OF BANKS IN THESE COUNTIES.
 
 
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, Dec 2, 3:23 PM EST, 1 hour 59 minutes before
WVZ003-KYZ006-OHZ009-012200

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTINGTON WV
315 PM EST MON DEC 2 1991

...RAINFALL CONTINUES ACROSS MUCH OF EASTERN KENTUCKY AND WESTERN
   WEST VIRGINIA...

AT 300 PM...MANY STREAMS AND CREEKS IN EASTERN KENTUCKY AND WESTERN
WEST VIRGINIA ARE RUNNING AT BANKFULL.  ANOTHER ONE TO TWO INCHES OF
RAIN IS POSSIBLE.  THIS WOULD BRING THESE STREAMS AND CREEKS INTO A
FLOOD SITUATION.

PERSONS IN THESE AREAS ARE ADVISED TO TAKE NECESSARY ACTION THE POTECT
LIVES AND PROPERTY.  DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH WATER COVERED ROADWAYS OR
VENTURE NEED RIVER BANKS.  HIGH WATERS CAN CAUSE EROSION CREATING AN
UNSEEN DANGER.

THE NEXT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 5 PM OR SOONER IF CONDITIONS
WARRANT...STAY TUNES TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR UP TODATE REPORTS ON

THE LATEST FLOOD INFORMATION.

SMITH
Special weather statement, Dec 2, 3:36 PM EST, 1 hour 46 minutes before
WVZ003-KYZ006-OHZ009-012200

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTINGTON WV
315 PM EST MON DEC 2 1991

...RAINFALL CONTINUES ACROSS MUCH OF EASTERN KENTUCKY AND WESTERN
   WEST VIRGINIA...

AT 300 PM...MANY STREAMS AND CREEKS IN EASTERN KENTUCKY AND WESTERN
WEST VIRGINIA WERE RUNNING AT BANKFULL.  ANOTHER ONE TO TWO INCHES OF
RAIN IS POSSIBLE.  THIS WOULD BRING THESE STREAMS AND CREEKS INTO A
FLOOD SITUATION.

PERSONS IN THESE AREAS ARE ADVISED TO TAKE NECESSARY ACTION THE PROTECT
LIVES AND PROPERTY.  DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH WATER COVERED ROADWAYS OR
VENTURE NEED RIVER BANKS.  HIGH WATERS CAN CAUSE EROSION CREATING AN
UNSEEN DANGER.

THE NEXT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 5 PM OR SOONER IF CONDITIONS
WARRANT...STAY TUNES TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR UP TODATE REPORTS ON
THE LATEST FLOOD INFORMATION.

SMITH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 2, 12:49 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXPocahontas, Randolph3 hr
Dec 2, 5:20 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXBraxton, Clay, Kanawha, Nicholas, Webster3 hr
Dec 2, 5:20 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXBoone, Lincoln3 hr
Dec 2, 5:22 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXLogan, Raleigh, Wyoming3 hr
Dec 2, 6:26 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXRandolph, Tucker3 hr
Dec 2, 6:26 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXUpshur3 hr
Dec 2, 6:26 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXPocahontas3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 1991Every flash flood warning in 1991

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.