Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS Raleigh, NC

June 20, 1996Durham County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this flash flood warning at Jun 20, 1996, 5:58 PM EDT for Durham County, North Carolina. It was in force for 2 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jun 20, 1996, 5:58 PM EDT (21:58 UTC)
Expired: Jun 20, 1996, 8:00 PM EDT
In force: 2 hr
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Durham County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 92 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 72 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -104 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1069 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -7 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 202159
FFWRDU
NCC063-210000-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
558 PM EDT THU JUN 20 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...NORTHERN DURHAM COUNTY
 
A LINE OF SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHERN DURHAM COUNTY HAS
RESULTED IN LOCALIZED FLOODING NEAR BAHAMA. THE LINE OF STORMS CONTINUES
TO MOVE SLOWLY TO THE EAST-SOUTHEAST AND MORE FLOODING IS EXPECTED.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  STAY ALERT IF YOU ARE IN FLOOD-PRONE AREAS NEAR STREAMS
AND CREEKS.  WATCH FOR RAPIDLY RISING WATER.  BE PREPARED TO ACT
QUICKLY AND MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED.

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 20, 4:34 PM EDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before

NCZALL-211200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
420 PM EDT THU JUN 20 1996

...HEAT AND HUMIDITY ARRIVE JUST IN TIME FOR THE FIRST WEEKEND
OF SUMMER...

A RATHER HOT WEEKEND IS IN STORE FOR THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA.
A WARM DOME OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS WILL BUILD
EAST INTO THE STATE THIS WEEKEND. THIS HIGH PRESSURE AREA WILL
BRING LOTS OF SUNSHINE TO THE STATE SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. THE INCREASED
SUNSHINE AND DECREASED CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL ALSO
HELP TEMPERATURES WARM FROM THE READINGS OF PREVIOUS DAYS.

TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO REACH THE 90 TO 95 DEGREE RANGE IN AREAS
EAST OF THE MOUNTAINS. THE WARMEST READINGS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE
SANDHILLS AND IN THE INTERIOR SOUTHEAST SECTIONS INCLUDING THE
FAYETTEVILLE TO GOLDSBORO TO LAURINBURG AREAS WHERE TEMPERATURES IN
THE MID 90S ARE FORECAST. THIS COMBINED WITH RATHER HUMID CONDITIONS
WILL BRING HEAT INDICIES TO AROUND 100 DEGREES OVER THESE AREAS.

WE ARE NOT ANTICIPATING EXCESSIVE HEAT THIS WEEKEND BUT SINCE THIS
IS THE FIRST WEEKEND OF THE SUMMER...REMEMBER THAT ANYONE PLANNING
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES SHOULD TAKE SEVERAL BREAKS...DRINK PLENTY OF
WATER...AND LIMIT THE AMOUNT OF TIME SPENT IN THE DIRECT SUN.
ALSO REMEMBER TO CHECK ON THE ELDERLY...MAKE SURE THEY HAVE ADEQUATE
COOLING SYSTEMS.

PWB

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 20, 5:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Durham	36 min
Jun 20, 6:25 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Orange	2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 1996 Every flash flood warning in 1996

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.