Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 45, NWS Charleston, WV

May 16, 1996Randolph County, Webster County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at May 16, 1996, 2:46 PM EDT for Randolph County, Webster 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 16, 1996, 2:46 PM EDT (18:46 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1996, 8:45 PM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

Counties Randolph County, WV, Webster County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 142 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:49 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

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 169 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1996-05-16Temperature 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1996-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 119 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
496 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
119 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
265 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 161849
FFWCRW
WVC083-101-170045-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
246 PM EDT THU MAY 16 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...S...
 
IN NORTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...RANDOLPH COUNTY
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...WEBSTER COUNTY
 
WIDESPREAD RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES IN THE PAST 24 HOURS HAVE
CAUSED NUMEROUS STREAMS TO FLOW OUT OF THEIR BANKS. HEAVY RAINS
OVERNIGHT HAVE SATURATED THE GROUND AND AS A RESULT STREAMS CONTINUE TO
RISE.
 
LEADING CREEK HAS OVERFLOWED ON TO HIGHWAY 219 NORTH OF ELKINS RESULTING
IN THE CLOSING OF ONE LANE. OTHER SECONDARY ROADS IN RANDOLPH COUNTY ARE
UNDER WATER.
 
COUNTY RT 42 IN WEBSTER COUNTY HAS WATER FLOWING ACROSS IT FROM THE
GAULEY RIVER AND RT 26/1 NEAR BERGOO IS ALSO UNDER WATER.
 
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 ESC`APE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 9:15 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXLincoln, Wayne6 hr
May 15, 10:41 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXLogan, Mingo4 hr
May 15, 11:31 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXMcDowell, Wyoming5 hr
May 16, 12:40 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXCabell5 hr
May 16, 12:50 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXCabell5 hr
May 16, 2:19 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXFayette, Raleigh4 hr
May 16, 2:56 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXLincoln, Logan, Mingo, Wayne4 hr
May 16, 3:54 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXMcDowell, Wyoming4 hr
May 16, 9:19 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXRandolph, Webster5 hr
May 16, 10:15 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXWyoming4 hr
May 16, 2:15 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXWyoming3 hr
May 16, 4:24 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXPocahontas4 hr
May 16, 7:18 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXBarbour, Harrison5 hr
May 16, 7:34 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXDoddridge, Tyler4 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.