Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1992

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 20, 1992Avery County, Caldwell County, Watauga County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Apr 20, 1992, 6:02 PM EDT for Avery County, Caldwell County, Watauga County, North Carolina. It was in force for 118 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 20, 1992, 6:02 PM EDT (22:02 UTC)
Expired
Apr 20, 1992, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
118 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Avery County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Watauga County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 164 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 1992-04-20Temperature 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1992-04-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 73 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
73 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
79 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 KAVL 202203
FFWAVL
NCC011-027-189-210000-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
602 PM EDT MON APR 20 1992
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ASHEVILLE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...AVERY COUNTY...CALDWELL COUNTY...WATAUGA COUNTY
 
RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN CONTINUED OVER WATAUGA
COUNTY SOUTH OF BOONE. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED STEADY
RAIN CONTINUED AT BOONE. SEVERAL APARTMENTS NEAR THE BOONE AIRPORT HAD
BEEN FLOODED. FIRE DEPARTMENTS AND RESCUE SQUADS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY
WERE ON STANDBY. IN BOONE...ALMOST 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAD FALLEN SINCE
ABOUT 100 PM EDT.
 
IN CALDWELL COUNTY...EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT REPORTED WILSON CREEK HAD
FLOODED. ROADS IN SEVERAL AREAS NEAR WILSON CREEK WERE COVERED WITH
WATER AND SEVERAL BRIDGES WERE ALSO COVERED.
 
IN AVERY COUNTY...RAIN CONTINUED CAUSING SOME MINOR FLOODING ON WILSON
CREEK.
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS".  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
 
R. JONES

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, Apr 20, 3:11 PM EDT, 2 hours 51 minutes before
NCZ007-009-010-011-012-013-202345-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
310 PM EDT MON APR 20 1992

...SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...

PERSISTENT SOUTHEAST WINDS HAVE PRODUCED SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN ACROSS
PARTS OF WESTHERN NORTH CAROLINA. THE HEAVIEST RAIN HAS BEEN ALONG THE
BLUE RIDGE IN THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. ANYWHERE FROM 1 TO 2 INCHES OF
RAIN HAVE FALLEN SIMCE LATE SUNDAY. HOWEVER...LOCALLY AMOUNTS HAVE BEEN
REPORTED TO BE AS MUCH AS 5 INCHES FROM THE PUBLIC IN SOME LOCATIONS.
AT 300 PM MT. MITCHELL IN YANCEY COUNTY REPORTED 4.91 INCHES OF RAIN.
ALSO THE DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IN AVERY COUNTY REPORTED THE
LINVILLE RIVER WAS NEAR BANKFULL AND WILL OVERFLOW DURING THE NEXT FEW
HOURS.

MORE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL OCCUR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. LATE
TONIGHT AND TUESDAY...HEAVY RAIN MAY BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD ACROSS
THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS AS A COLD FRONT MOVES INT}O THE RGION FROM
THE WEST.

THE THREAT OF LOCAL SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOODING WILL CONTINUE
TONIGHT AND TUESDAY AS THE RISK OF WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAIN BECOMES
GREATER.

REU
Special weather statement, Apr 20, 3:49 PM EDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before
NCZ007-202145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE N
345 PM EDT APR 20 1992

... A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AND
FOOTHILLS OF NORTH CAROLINA FOR THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT ...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR A
PORTION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA ... INCLUDING CATAWBA COUNTY FOR
THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT.

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR FLASH
FLOODING.  STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS.

AT 340 PM EDT ... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LARGE AREA
OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORM OVER THE WESTERN CAROLINAS.  THIS
PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH AT AROUND 15 MPH.  THIS
PATTERN WILL LIKELY CONTINUE THROUGH THE HOURS OF DARKNESS.

THE NEXT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE AROUND 545 PM EDT.

CLARK
Special weather statement, Apr 20, 3:50 PM EDT, 2 hours 12 minutes before
NCZ007-202145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC
345 PM EDT APR 20 1992

... A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AND
FOOTHILLS OF NORTH CAROLINA FOR THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT ...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR A
PORTION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA ... INCLUDING CATAWBA COUNTY FOR
THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT.

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR FLASH
FLOODING.  STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS.

AT 340 PM EDT ... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LARGE AREA
OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORM OVER THE WESTERN CAROLINAS.  THIS
PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH AT AROUND 15 MPH.  THIS
PATTERN WILL LIKELY CONTINUE THROUGH THE HOURS OF DARKNESS.

THE NEXT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE AROUND 545 PM EDT.

CLARK

The office that day

Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 20, 3:51 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPAvery, Caldwell, Watauga2 hr
Apr 20, 7:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCherokee42 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 1992Every flash flood warning in 1992

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.