Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1994

Flash Flood Warning 53, NWS Charleston, WV

March 28, 1994Mingo County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Mar 28, 1994, 11:43 PM EST for Mingo County, West Virginia. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 28, 1994, 11:43 PM EST (04:43 UTC)
Expired
Mar 29, 1994, 2:15 AM EST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Mingo County, WV

The nearest sounding before it

Huntington/Tri S, WV (KHTS), launched 00:00Z, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 78 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 1994-03-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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, Huntington/Tri S, WV at 00:00Z on 1994-03-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -88 square meters per square second.1939587897117136156Sfc1 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
592 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
123 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-88 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
28 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 290443
FFWBKW
WVC059-290715-
 
BULLETIN
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV
1143 PM EST MON MAR 28 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BECKLEY WV HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 300 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTHWEST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...MINGO COUNTY
 
U.S. 52 AT MAHER WAS UNDERWATER AND DEEP ENOUGH TO BLOCK TRAFFIC. MANY
STREAMS AND CREEKS ARE RUNNING HIGH IN MINGO COUNTY. LIGHT RAIN WILL
CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS AND SOME ADDITIONAL FLOODING
MAY OCCUR.
 
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.
 
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, Mar 28, 7:05 PM EST, 4 hours 38 minutes before
WVZ006-007-005-KYZ103-102-104-101-107-105-100-119-OHZ081-086-083-
087-085-082-088-290500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTINGTON WV
701 PM EST MON MAR 28 1994

...SMALL STREAM AND CREEK WATER LEVELS ARE RUNNING HIGH IN THE TRI
STATE...

1 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN OVER THE WEEKEND RESULTED IN STREAMS AND CREEKS TO
RISE IN WESTERN WEST VIRGINIA, SOUTHCENTRAL OHIO AND NORTHEASTERN
KENTUCKY. THE RAIN, PLUS SNOWMELT IN THE UPPER REACHES OF THE BASIN,
WILL ALSO CAUSE THE OHIO RIVER TO RISE TO NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE FLOOD
STAGE AT MANY LOCATIONS THROUGH THURSDAY.

THIS WILL CREATE THE POSSIBILITY OF MINOR OVERFLOW OF STREAMS AND CREEKS
ACROSS THE AREA, ESPECIALLY NEAR POINTS WHERE THEY EMPTY INTO THE OHIO
RIVER. PEOPLE WHO LIVE ALONG THESE STREAMS, OR TRAVEL THE ROADS ALONG
SIDE THEM, SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR RISING WATERS. DO NOT CROSS STANDING
WATER ACROSS ROADWAYS SINCE THE DEPTH CANNOT BE EASILY DETERMINED.

FOR INTEREST ALONG THE OHIO RIVER, HERE ARE THE LATEST READINGS AND
CREST FORECASTS...
                                TUE      WED      THU    ....CREST....
FORECAST POINT....FS   OBSV    MAR 29   MAR 30   MAR 31  STAGE DA/TIME
GALLIPOLIS DAM    50   38.5     44.1     47.9      48.4   48.5 31/ 100
PT PLEASANT       40   38.0     39.9     43.6      44.3   44.5 31/ 100
HUNTINGTON, W.V.  50   39.5     46.1     49.3      49.8   49.8 31/ 100
ASHLAND, KY       52   42.8     50.1     53.5      54.5   54.5 31/ 700
GREENUP DAM, KY   54   43.4     49.4     53.3      54.9   55.0 31/1300
PORTSMOUTH, OH.   50   40.6     45.0     48.2      49.9   50.0 31/1900

ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS ON THIS SITUATION WILL BE ISSUED AS NEEDED.

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 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.