Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1994

Flash Flood Warning 29, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

August 17, 1994Ashe County, Watauga County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Aug 17, 1994, 4:18 AM EDT for Ashe County, Watauga County, North Carolina. It was in force for 117 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 17, 1994, 4:18 AM EDT (08:18 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 1994, 6:15 AM EDT
In force
117 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Ashe County, NC, Watauga County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 155 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 1994-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1105 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1994-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 141 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
1105 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
648 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
141 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
219 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
5.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KAVL 170820
FFWAVL
NCC009-011-121-189-199-171015-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
418 AM EDT WED AUG 17 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ASHEVILLE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...ASHE COUNTY...AVERY COUNTY...MITCHELL COUNTY
   ...WATAUGA COUNTY...YANCEY COUNTY
 
THIS FLASH FLOOD WARNING EXTENDS THE PREVIOUS WARNING FOR THE NORTHERN
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. AT 415 AM EDT NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED LIGHT TO MODERATE RAINFALL CONTINUING
ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. EVEN THOUGH RAINFALL AMOUNTS HAVE
TAPERED OFF DURING THE LAST COUPLE HOURS...ANY ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS THAT
MAY FALL THIS MORNING WILL LIKELY AID IN THE CHANCES FOR FLASH FLOODING
ACROSS THE WARNED COUNTIES.
 
 
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.
COLE

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

Local storm report, Aug 16, 11:25 PM EDT, 4 hours 53 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
1125 PM EDT TUE AUG 16 1994

TIME        EVENT

1120 PM EDT PICKENS COUNTY FLASH FLOOD RAIN GAGE OBSERVER AT
            ROCKY BOTTOM REPORTED 7.5 INCHES RAINFALL SINCE
            11 PM MONDAY.  SHERIFFS OFFICE SAYS SOME CREEKS
            BEGINNING TO GET OUT ON ROADS NORTHERN PART COUNTY.

WAJ
Local storm report, Aug 16, 11:27 PM EDT, 4 hours 51 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
1125 PM EDT TUE AUG 16 1994

TIME        EVENT

1120 PM EDT PICKENS COUNTY FLASH FLOOD RAIN GAGE OBSERVER AT
            ROCKY BOTTOM REPOVRTED 7.5 INCHES RAINFALL SINCE
            11 PM MONDAY.  SHERIFFS OFFICE SAYS SOME CREEKS
            BEGINNING TO GET OUT ON ROADS NORTHERN PART COUNTY.

WAJ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 17, 2:22 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPHenderson, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania4 hr
Aug 17, 2:22 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPJackson, Macon4 hr
Aug 17, 3:20 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPBuncombe, Burke, McDowell3 hr
Aug 17, 3:20 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPCaldwell3 hr
Aug 17, 3:20 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPHaywood, Madison, Swain3 hr
Aug 17, 4:18 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPMitchell, Yancey117 min
Aug 17, 4:18 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPAvery117 min
Aug 17, 6:27 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPAshe, Watauga5 hr
Aug 17, 6:27 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPAvery, McDowell, Mitchell, Yancey5 hr
Aug 17, 6:27 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPBurke, Caldwell5 hr
Aug 17, 6:45 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPHaywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain, Transylvania4 hr
Aug 17, 6:45 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPBuncombe, Henderson, Madison, Rutherford4 hr
Aug 17, 6:45 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPPolk4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 1994Every flash flood warning in 1994

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.