Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1994

Flash Flood Warning 72, NWS Charleston, WV

May 7, 1994Braxton County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at May 7, 1994, 7:26 PM EDT for Braxton County, West Virginia. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 7, 1994, 7:26 PM EDT (23:26 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 1994, 12:30 AM EDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Braxton County, WV

The nearest sounding before it

Huntington/Tri S, WV (KHTS), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 159 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 12:00Z on 1994-05-07Temperature 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, Huntington/Tri S, WV at 12:00Z on 1994-05-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 337 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
717 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
337 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
364 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 KCRW 072325
FFWCRW
WVC007-080430-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
726 PM EDT SAT MAY 7 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING  EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1230 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...BRAXTON COUNTY
 
HEAVY RAINS HAVE BEEN ENOUGH TO PUSH STREAMS AND CREEKS OUT OF THEIR
BANKS. BUCKEYE CREEK IS ALREADY REPORTED OUT OF ITS BANKS AND BLOCKING
ROADWAYS.
 
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. WATCH OUT FOR MUD SLIDES.
 
 
 
&

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, May 7, 3:59 PM EDT, 3 hours 27 minutes before
WVZ015-016-018-027-028-037-038-080000-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
400 PM EDT SAT MAY 7 1994

MODERATE TO HEAVY SHOWERS HAVE FALLEN LAST NIGHT AND TODAY OVER THE
CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF WEST VIRGINIA.  IN PARTICULAR, THE HEAVIER RAINS
HAVE FALLEN IN WEBSTER AND PORTIONS OF RANDOLF AND PORTIONS OF
POCAHONTAS COUNTIES INCLUDING: THE UPPER REACHES OF THE ELK RIVER, THE
HOLLY RIVER, THE UPPER REACHES OF THE GAULEY RIVER AND THE WILLIAMS
RIVER.

THIS RAINFALL, COMBINED WITH SOME ADDITIONAL MODERATE RAINSHOWERS
EXPECTED TONIGHT, WILL BRING THE STREAMS AND RIVERS IN THIS AREA TO 3/4
BANKFULL WITH SOME LOCATIONS APPROACHING BANKFULL.

NO FLOODING IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER, THE WEATHER SERVICE WILL
CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE PRECIPITATION AS IT MOVES THROUGH THIS AREA
THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT.

END/REZEK
Special weather statement, May 7, 4:00 PM EDT, 3 hours 26 minutes before
WVZ015-016-018-027-028-037-038-080000-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
400 PM EDT SAT MAY 7 1994

MODERATE TO HEAVY SHOWERS HAVE FALLEN LAST NIGHT AND TODAY OVER THE
CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF WEST VIRGINIA.  IN PARTICULAR, THE HEAVIER RAINS
HAVE FALLEN IN WEBSTER AND PORTIONS OF RANDOLF AND PORTIONS OF
POCAHONTAS COUNTIES INCLUDING: THE UPPER REACHES OF THE ELK RIVER, THE
HOLLY RIVER, THE UPPER REACHES OF THE GAULEY RIVER AND THE WILLIAMS
RIVER.

THIS RAINFALL, COMBINED WITH SOME ADDITIONAL MODERATE RAINSHOWERS
EXPECTED TONIGHT, WILL BRING THE STREAMS AND RIVERS IN THIS AREA TO 3/4
BANKFULL WITH SOME LOCATIONS APPROACHING BANKFULL.

NO FLOODING IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER, THE WEATHER SERVICE WILL
CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE PRECIPITATION AS IT MOVES THROUGH THIS AREA
THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT.

END/REZEK
Special weather statement, May 7, 5:30 PM EDT, 1 hour 56 minutes before
WVZ042>045-080000-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV
530 PM EDT SAT MAY 7 1994

...ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING ACROSS SUMMERS COUNTY...

AT 535 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR
HINTON IN SUMMERS COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST-NORTHEAST AT AROUND
40 MPH. THE STORM WILL MOVE INTO NORTHWESTERN MONROE AND SOUTHERN GREENBRIER
COUNTIES BEFORE 6 PM.

THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY
RAIN...AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM
SEEK SHELTER INDOORS.

END/COBB

...CORRECTED FOR MOVEMENT...
Special weather statement, May 7, 5:41 PM EDT, 1 hour 45 minutes before
WVZ042>045-080000-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY WV
530 PM EDT SAT MAY 7 1994

...ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING ACROSS SUMMERS COUNTY...

AT 535 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR
HINTON IN SUMMERS COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST-NORTHEAST AT AROUND
40 MPH. THE STORM WILL MOVE INTO NORTHWESTERN MONROE AND SOUTHERN GREENBRIER
COUNTIES BEFORE 6 PM.

THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY
RAIN...AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM
SEEK SHELTER INDOORS.

END/COBB

...CORRECTED FOR MOVEMENT...

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 7, 5:02 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXPocahontas, Randolph4 hr
May 7, 5:27 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXWebster5 hr
May 7, 6:23 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXPocahontas, Randolph3 hr

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.