Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1992

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Charleston, WV

February 26, 1992Mercer County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Feb 26, 1992, 2:53 AM EST for Mercer County, West Virginia. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Feb 26, 1992, 2:53 AM EST (07:53 UTC)
Expired
Feb 26, 1992, 5:45 AM EST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Mercer County, WV

The nearest sounding before it

Huntington/Tri S, WV (KHTS), launched 00:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 162 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 00:00Z on 1992-02-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1992-02-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 44 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
562 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
100 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 260756
FFWBKW
WVC055-261045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV
253 AM EST WED FEB 26 1992
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BECKLEY WV HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...SOUTHEASTERN MERCER COUNTY
 
AT 248 AM EST THE EAST RIVER WAS REPORTED OUT OF ITS BANKS FROM
OAKVALE TO WILLOWTON. SEVERAL HOUSES REPORTED WATER IN BASEMENTS
BUT NO MAJOR FLOODING WAS OCCURRING.
 
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 SHOU_LD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.
 
END/BURRUS

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, Feb 25, 11:05 PM EST, 3 hours 48 minutes before
WVZ007-008-160800-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV
1105 PM EST TUE FEB 25 1992

AT 1100 PM EST SOME SMALL STREAM FLOODING WAS REPORTED ALONG PIGEON CREEK
NEAR OAKVALE IN MERCER COUNTY..ALSO SOME URBAN FLOODING IN THE BLUEFIELD
AREA..RT 10 BETWEEN PRINCETON AND MATOKA IN MERCER COUNTY WAS REPORTED TO
HAVE MUD AND SOME ROCKS ON IT..ALSO SOME URBAN FLOODING WAS REPORTED IN
THE PRINCETON AREA.

AT 1057 PM WEATHER RADAR AT BECKLEY SHOWED ONLY PATCHES OF LIGHT RAIN
OVER SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA..HOWEVER WITH THE GROUND ALREADY SATURATED
PEOPLE LIVING NEAR SMALL STREAMS AND FLOOD PRONE AREAS SHOULD WATCH WATER
LEVELS IF ANY HEAVY RAIN IS OBSERVED.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WE'ATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

END/CDB
Special weather statement, Feb 26, 1:29 AM EST, 1 hour 24 minutes before
WVZ006-007-008-260800-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV
128 AM EST WED FEB 26 1992

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHERN SUMMERS COUNTY UNTIL 400
AM EST...

AT 120 AM EST...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT BECKLEY SHOWED VERY LIGHT RAIN
FALLING NEAR CHARLESTON EAST TO SUMMERSVILLE. HOWEVER...SURFACE REPORTS
INDICATED THAT VERY LIGHT RAIN CONTINUED TO FALL OVER A LARGE PORTION OF
SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING WAS ISSUED AROUND 100 AM EST FOR SOUTHERN SUMMERS
COUNTY. THE RAIN GUAGE AT THE BLUESTONE RIVER NEAR PIPESTEM REPORTED THE
RIVER NEAR BANKFUL AND RISING. RAIN HAS ENDED IN SUMMERS COUNTY AND THE RIVER
IS EXPECTED TO CREST ABOUT TWO FEET ABOVE BANKFUL BY DAYBREAK.

THE NATIONAL WEATER SERVICE IS KEEPING A CLOSE WATCH ON THE SITUATION.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEAHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

END/BURRUS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 26, 12:57 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXSummers3 hr
Feb 26, 4:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXSummers3 hr
Feb 26, 7:05 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXSummers115 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 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.