Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1995

Flash Flood Warning 48, NWS Charleston, WV

June 25, 1995Webster County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Jun 25, 1995, 5:37 PM EDT for Webster County, West Virginia. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 25, 1995, 5:37 PM EDT (21:37 UTC)
Expired
Jun 25, 1995, 9:45 PM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Webster County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 115 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:38 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Huntington/Tri S, WV (KHTS), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 182 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 1995-06-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 676 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 12:00Z on 1995-06-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 23 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
676 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
533 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
19 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 252138 RRA
FFWCRW
WVC101-260145-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
537 PM EDT SUN JUN 25 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...NORTHERN WEBSTER COUNTY
 
WEATEHR SERVICE RADAR INDICATES THAT ABOUT TWO INCHES HAS FALLEN OVER
THE RUGGED TERRAIN OF NORTHERN WEBSTER COUNTY IN LESS THAN AN HOUR. THIS
RAINFALL IS MORE THAN TWICE NEEDED FOR FLOODING. THE THUNDERSTORM
IS SHOWING NO SIGNS OF WEAKENING OR MOVING.  INTENSE RAINFALL IS
CONTINUING TO FALL.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT.  IT'S
IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO STREAMS...RIVERS...OR
CREEKS WHICH CAN BECOME KILLERS IN HEAVY RAINS.  CAMPERS SHOULD
AVOID CAMPING ALONG STREAMS OR CREEKS DURING THREATENING RAINS.
 
EOM

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, Jun 25, 4:50 PM EDT, 47 minutes before
WVZ047-260000-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
450 PM EDT SUN JUN 25 1995

A THUNDERSTORM IS CROSSING THE NORTHERN PART OF RANDOLPH COUNTY.

A THUNDERSTORM IS LOCATED JUST NORTH OF ELKINS WV.  THE THUNDERSTORM
IS PRODUCING SOME LIGHTNING AND A SMALL AREA OF BRIEFLY HEAVY RAIN.
RAINFALLS COULD AMOUNT TO AN INCH OR TWO.

EXPECT RAINFALL TO CAUSE REDUCED VISIBILITY FOR MOTORISTS AND
SHALLOW FLOWING WATER ON ROADWAYS AND IN DITCHES.  SOME BRIEF
PONDING COULD ALSO OCCUR.  THE STORM COULD LAST FOR AN HOUR OR SO.

EOM
Special weather statement, Jun 25, 4:55 PM EDT, 42 minutes before
WVZ047-260000-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
450 PM EDT SUN JUN 25 1995

A THUNDERSTORM IS CROSSING THE NORTHERN PART OF RANDOLPH COUNTY.

A THUNDERSTORM IS LOCATED JUST NORTH OF ELKINS WV.  THE THUNDERSTORM
IS PRODUCING SOME LIGHTNING AND A SMALL AREA OF BRIEFLY HEAVY RAIN.
RAINFALLS COULD AMOUNT TO AN INCH OR TWO.

EXPECT RAINFALL TO CAUSE REDUCED VISIBILITY FOR MOTORISTS AND
SHALLOW FLOWING WATER ON ROADWAfYS AND IN DITCHES.  SOME BRIEF
PONDING COULD ALSO OCCUR.  THE STORM COULD LAST FOR AN HOUR OR SO.

EOM

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 1995Every flash flood warning in 1995

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.