Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1993

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Raleigh, NC

March 4, 1993Durham County, Orange County, Person County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this flash flood warning at Mar 4, 1993, 8:17 AM EST for Durham County, Orange County, Person County, North Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 4, 1993, 8:17 AM EST (13:17 UTC)
Expired
Mar 4, 1993, 11:15 AM EST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Durham County, NC, Orange County, NC, Person County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 82 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 1993-03-04Temperature 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 1993-03-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 259 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
528 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
93 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
259 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
277 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 KRDU 041339 COR
FFWRDU
NCC063-069-077-135-145-181-185-041615-

BULLETIN
FLOOD WARNING CORRECTION...SHOULD READ FLOOD WARNING NOT FLASH FLOOD
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
817 AM EST THU MAR 4 1993

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA

   ...DURHAM COUNTY...FRANKLIN COUNTY...GRANVILLE COUNTY
   ...ORANGE COUNTY...PERSON COUNTY...VANCE COUNTY...WARREN COUNTY

HEAVY RAINS HAVE FALLEN ACROSS THE REGION OVERNIGHT. ALTHOUGH RAINS ARE
ENDING SOME FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND ROADWAYS WILL CONTINUE THIS
MORNING. AMOUNTS HAVE AVERAGED 2.5 TO 3.5 INCHES.

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
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

CORRECTION...........THE BODY OF THE WARNING SHOULD SAY FLOOD
                     WARNING...NOT FLASH FLOOD WARNING.

JBP

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, Mar 4, 5:28 AM EST, 2 hours 49 minutes before
NCZ003-004-005-014-041230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
521 AM EST THU MAR 4 1993

WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT RALEIGH-DURHAM INDICATED A DEVELOPING LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM WESTERN HARNETT COUNTY NORTHWARD ACROSS
CENTRAL LEE AND CHATHAM COUNTIES TO NORTHERN ORANGE.

THE THUNDERSTORMS IN THIS LINE APPEAR TO BE MOVING NORTHEAST AROUND 30
MPH.

STRONG LOW LEVEL WINDS WILL CAUSE RAPID MOVEMENT OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS.
SOME BRIEF GUSTY WINDS IN EXCESS OF 35 MPH ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS
NORTH-CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA EARLY THIS MORNING. PERSONS ESPECIALLY
ACROSS THE NORTHEAST PIEDMONT SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR RAPID CHANGING
CONDITIONS THIS MORNINGV.

LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO PRODUCE SOME FLOODING OF ROADWAYS.
COMMUTERS SHOULD ALLOW EXTRA TIME THIS MORNING.

ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS AND OR WARNINGS WILL BE ISSUED AS NEEDED.
LBC
Special weather statement, Mar 4, 6:37 AM EST, 1 hour 40 minutes before
NCZ006-007-009-041300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
635 AM EST THU MAR 4 1993

...HEAVY RAINS STILL SPREADING OVER NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...

PATCHES OF HEAVY RAIN CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS..
NORTHERN FOOTHILLS AND NORTHWEST PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA.  OVER TWO
INCHES OF RAIN HAVE FALLEN AT THE PIEDMONT TRIAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
SINCE NOON YESTERDAY AND MANY OTHER AREAS HAVE RECIEVED SIMILAR AMOUNTS.

AT 630 PM RADAR SHOWED THE HEAVIEST RAINS OVER NORTHWEST NORTH
CAROLINA BETWEEN HICKORY AND NORTH WILKESBORO.  THE RAIN WAS MOVING
NORTH NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 50 MPH.

WITH THIS ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN THIS MORNING..WE MAY EXPERIENCE SOME
MINOR FLOODING OF SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS.  WATER WAS ALSO PONDING
ALONG SIDE ROADWAYS IN LOW LYING AREAS AND IN SPOTS WHERE THE DRAINAGE
WAS POOR.

PERSONS GETTING OUT AND TRALVELING THIS MORNING SHOULD USE CAUTION AND
KEEP A LOOKOUT FOR WXATER LYING ON ROADWAYS.  THE RAIN IS EXPECTED TO
TAPER OFF AND END LATER THIS MORNING.

RBN
Special weather statement, Mar 4, 6:46 AM EST, 1 hour 31 minutes before
NCZ003-004-005-041345-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
645 AM EST THU MAR 4 1993

HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES ACROSS MUCH OF THE NORTHEAST PIEDMONT AS WELL AS
THE TRIANGLE AREA THIS MORNING.

SOME FLOODING WAS BEEN REPORTED IN CHAPEL HILL AROUND 5AM THIS MORNING.
HEAVY RAIN HAS PRODUCED SOME STREET FLOODING IN THE RALEIGH AREA AND
CRABTREE CREEK IS APPROACHING FLOOD STAGE AT WAKE FOREST ROAD.

COMMUTERS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RISING WATERS IN LOW LYING AREAS. PONDING
OF ROADWAYS WILL BE COMMONPLACE THROUGH THE PEAK TRAFFIC PERIOD.

PERSONS NEAR LOW LYING AREAS THAT ARE PRONE TO RAPID FLOODING SHOULD
REMAIN ALERT AND BE READY TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.
 |
THE HEAVY RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY DIMINISH OVER THE NEXT
COUPLE OF HOURS. HOWEVER...WITH THE SATURATED GROUNDS...RUNOFF WILL
BE PROLONGED FOR SEVERAL HOURS THIS MORNING.
LBC

The office that day

Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 4, 6:45 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRAHWake4 hr
Mar 4, 8:17 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRAHFranklin, Vance, Warren3 hr
Mar 4, 8:17 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRAHGranville3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 1993Every flash flood warning in 1993

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.