Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 57, NWS Charleston, WV

May 25, 1996Webster County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at May 25, 1996, 2:58 AM EDT for Webster 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
May 25, 1996, 2:58 AM EDT (06:58 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1996, 6:00 AM EDT
In force
3 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 07:01 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 00:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 215 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 00:00Z on 1996-05-25Temperature 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 1996-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -53 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1039 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-53 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
89 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 250658 RRA
FFWCRW
WVC101-251000-
 
BULLETIN
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
258 AM EDT SAT MAY 25 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...NORTHERN WEBSTER COUNTY
 
RAINFALL OVER THE PAST 2 HOURS WILL PUSH SOME STREAMS AND CREEKS TO
BANKFUL OR OVER BANKFUL IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS. AUTOMATED RAIN GAUGES BET
EVALLEY AND WEBSTER SPRINGS INDICATED RAINFALL OF 1 TO 2 INCHES OVER THE
PAST FEW HOURS. THIS MAY BE ENOUGH TO CAUSE FLOODING MAINLY IN AREAS OF
POOR DRAINAGE AND FLOOD PRONE STREAMS AND CREEKS OVER THE NEXT 1 TO 3
HOURS.
 
MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING 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. DO NOT DRIVE AROUND POLICE BARRICADES.
 
 
v

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 25, 2:39 AM EDT, 19 minutes before
WVZ005>008-013>018-024>026-OHZ083-086-087-KYZ101>103-105-250710-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
234 AM EDT SAT MAY 25 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 431 SOUTHEAST OHIO...EASTERN
   KENTUCKY AND WESTERN WEST VIRGINIA HAS BEEN CANCELLED...

THE AREA OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THAT MOVED INTO EASTERN KENTUCKY
AND SOUTHEAST OHIO AS WELL AS WEST VIRGINIA HAS MOVED TO THE
SOUTHEAST. A FEW SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL
POSSIBLE OVER THE AREA...ESPECIALLY TO THE SOUTH AND EAST.
HOWEVER THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS DIMINISHED.
THEREFORE THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

DANL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 9:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXFayette48 min
May 24, 11:13 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXWayne47 min
May 24, 11:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXLincoln64 min

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.