Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 93, NWS Charleston, WV

July 19, 1996Randolph County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Jul 19, 1996, 10:35 AM EDT for Randolph 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
Jul 19, 1996, 10:35 AM EDT (14:35 UTC)
Expired
Jul 19, 1996, 4:30 PM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Randolph County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 169 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:38 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, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 178 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 1996-07-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 268 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1996-07-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 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
268 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-37 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
912 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
19 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 191433
FFWCRW
WVC083-192030-
 
BULLETIN
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
1035 AM EDT FRI JUL 19 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN NORTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...RANDOLPH COUNTY
 
RUNODFF FROM HEAVY MORNING RAINFALL OVER SATURATED GROUND HAS CAUSED
MANY STREAMS TO RISE TO BANKFULL...AND A FEW STREAMS TO BEGIN TO
OVERFLOW. LEADING CREEK...WHICH FLOWS INTO THE EASTERN PORTION OF THE
CITY OF ELKINS...WAS REPORTED TO BE OVERFLOWING.
 
PRECAUTIONARY EVACUTATIONS WERE TAKING PLACE ALONG PORTIONS OF
LEADING CREEK NORTH OF ELKINS. WATER WAS NEAR U S ROUTE 119 WHICH RUNS
ALONG THIS STREAM.
 
ALTHROUGH THERE HAS BEEN A BREAK IN THE HEAVY RAIN...MORE THUNDERSTORMS
NOW MOVING THROUGH NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA WILL MOVE INTO RANDOLPH
COUNTY BETWEEN 1045 AM AND NOON. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED
WITH SOME OF THESE STORMS. RUNOFF WILL BE RAPID AND MORE STREAM
OVERFLOW CAN BE ANTICIPATED.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WALTER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. WATCH OUT FOR MUD SLIDES.
 
ZINN

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, Jul 19, 9:45 AM EDT, 50 minutes before
WVZ009>011-019-020-031-032-040-OHZ066-067-076-191400-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
944 AM EDT FRI JUL 19 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH THAT WAS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM HAS BEEN
   CANCELLED...

A LINE OS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVED THROUGH EXTREME NORTHERN
WEST VIRGINIA THIS MORNING.  NO REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER HAVE YET
BEEN RECEIVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.  RADAR HAS INDICATED
THAT THE SHOWERSP AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN.  WITH
THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER DIMINISHED...THE WATCH HAS BEEN
CANCELLED EARLY.

BELK
Special weather statement, Jul 19, 9:49 AM EDT, 46 minutes before
WVZ009>011-019-020-031-032-040-OHZ066-067-076-191400-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
948 AM EDT FRI JUL 19 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH THAT WAS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM HAS BEEN
   CANCELLED...

A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVED THROUGH EXTREME NORTHERN
WEST VIRGINIA THIS MORNING.  NO REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER HAVE YET
BEEN RECEIVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.  RADAR HAS INDICATED
TjHAT THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN.  WITH
THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER DIMINISHED...THE WATCH HAS BEEN
CANCELLED EARLY.

BELK
CORRECTED TYPOS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 19, 9:44 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXBarbour4 hr
Jul 19, 2:13 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXBarbour4 hr
Jul 19, 2:49 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXPleasants, Tyler3 hr
Jul 19, 4:21 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXUpshur4 hr
Jul 19, 4:32 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXRandolph4 hr
Jul 19, 6:27 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXBraxton, Gilmer3 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.