Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996
Flash Flood Warning 15, NWS Charleston, WV
NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at May 4, 1996, 10:27 PM EDT for Barbour County, Harrison County, West Virginia. It was in force for 6 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
- May 4, 1996, 10:27 PM EDT (02:27 UTC)
- Expired
- May 5, 1996, 4:30 AM EDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Charleston, WV
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Barbour County, WV, Harrison County, WV
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 147 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:31 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 00:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 134 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 27 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -47 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 946 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 61 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -59 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 50 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCRW 050231 FFWCRW WVC001-033-041-050830- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 1027 PM EDT SAT MAY 4 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS REISSUED THE FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS IN NORTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA ...BARBOUR COUNTY...HARRISON COUNTY...LEWIS COUNTY AS OF 1020 PM...OFFICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICE DIRECTORS FROM THESE COUNTIES REPORTED THAT MAJOR FLOODING WAS OCCURING ON THE SMALLER STREAMS AND CREEKS. IN HARRISON COUNTY...MOST OF THE FLOOING WAS OCCURING SOUTH OF ROUTE 50. FLOODING WAS REPORTED THROUGHOUT BARBOUR AND LEWIS COUNTIES. SOME EVACUATIONS HAVE OCCURRED. MANY STREETS WERE CLOSED DUE TO HIGH WATER. THE RAIN HAS ENDED WITH NO MORE RAIN EXPECTED FOR TONIGHT. WATER CONTINUES TO RUNOFF INTO THE SMALLER STREAMS AND CREEKS. FLOODING WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. 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.
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 4, 8:46 PM EDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before
WVZ005>011-013>020-024>032-035>040-046-047-OHZ066-067-075-076- 083>087-KYZ101>105-050130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 843 PM EDT SAT MAY 4 1996 THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE MOUNTAINS AND LOWLANDS OF WEST VIRGINIA...ALSO SOUTHEAST OHIO AND EXTREME EASTERN KENTUCKY. THE STRONG STORMS HAVE MOVED EAST OF OUR REGION AND ONLY A FEW LINGERING SHOWERS REMAIN ACROSS THE REGION. GRAF
The office that day
Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 10:27 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Lewis | 6 hr |
| May 5, 3:43 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | McDowell | 47 min |
| May 5, 4:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | McDowell | 15 min |
| May 5, 4:55 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Boone, Kanawha | 50 min |
| May 5, 4:59 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Lincoln | 16 min |
| May 5, 5:11 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Raleigh | 49 min |
| May 5, 5:18 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Fayette | 42 min |
| May 5, 5:25 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Kanawha | 4 hr |
| May 5, 7:26 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Boone | 4 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.