Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 119, NWS Charleston, WV

July 31, 1996Braxton County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Jul 31, 1996, 10:02 AM EDT for Braxton County, West Virginia. It was in force for 3 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
Jul 31, 1996, 10:02 AM EDT (14:02 UTC)
Expired
Jul 31, 1996, 1:00 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Braxton County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 97 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:01 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 197 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1996-07-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 49 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1996-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 63 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
49 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-38 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
752 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
81 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 311405
FFWCRW
WVC097-007-083-101-311700-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
1002 AM EDT WED JUL 31 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON IS CONTINUING A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  100 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...S...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...UPSHUR COUNTY
 
IN NORTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...RANDOLPH COUNTY
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...BRAXTON AND WEBSTER COUNTIES
 
CHARLESTON RADAR IS SHOWING RAINS CONTINUING OVER THE AREA. THESE RAINS
WILL ONLY AGGRAVATE THE SITUATION. RAINS WILL GRADUALLY END FROM WEST TO
EAST IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. THEREFORE THE WEATHER SERVICE IS
CONTINUING THE FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS FOR RANDOLPH..UPSHUR..BRAXTON..AND
WEBSTER COUNTIES.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
 
END/SIKORA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 31, 3:13 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXGilmer3 hr
Jul 31, 3:39 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXBarbour, Upshur3 hr
Jul 31, 3:53 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXBraxton3 hr
Jul 31, 5:02 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXMason4 hr
Jul 31, 5:09 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXGilmer4 hr
Jul 31, 5:20 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXRoane3 hr
Jul 31, 6:20 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXKanawha, Putnam4 hr
Jul 31, 7:05 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXRandolph, Upshur3 hr
Jul 31, 7:19 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXWebster3 hr
Jul 31, 7:19 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXClay3 hr
Jul 31, 7:40 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXBraxton3 hr
Jul 31, 8:11 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXKanawha, Roane2 hr
Jul 31, 10:02 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXRandolph, Upshur, Webster3 hr
Jul 31, 11:06 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXPocahontas3 hr
Jul 31, 1:05 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXRandolph, Upshur, Webster3 hr
Jul 31, 1:05 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXBraxton3 hr
Jul 31, 1:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXRandolph, Upshur, Webster2 hr
Jul 31, 1:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXBraxton2 hr
Jul 31, 2:15 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXPocahontas105 min
Jul 31, 4:00 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXBraxton, Webster3 hr
Jul 31, 4:00 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXRandolph3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 1996Every 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.