Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 20, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 16, 1996Mercer County, West Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at May 16, 1996, 6:07 AM EDT for Mercer 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 16, 1996, 6:07 AM EDT (10:07 UTC)
Expired: May 16, 1996, 9:00 AM EDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Whole counties

County Mercer County, WV

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 85 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:06 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 00:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 144 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 503 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 274 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 484 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 KROA 161007
FFWRNK
WVC055-161300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
607 AM EDT THU MAY 16 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG VA HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA

   ...MERCER
 
AT 606 AM MERCER COUNTY SHERIFF'S HAS RECEIVED NUMEROUS REPORTS OF
FLOODING OF ROADS AND RESIDENTIAL AREAS THROUGHOUT MERCER COUNTY.

RADAR INDICATES THE HEAVIEST RAIN NOW TRACKING AWAY FROM MERCER
COUNTY...HOWEVER ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO
DEVELOP TO THE NORTHWEST AND TRACK SOUTHEASTWARD TOWARD MERCER
COUNTY.
 
MOST 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 TO HIGHER GROUND.

SPN

&

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.

NWS Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at May 16, 2:19 AM EDT, 3 hours 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 16, 2:19 AM EDT, 3 hours 48 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
215 AM EDT THU MAY 16 1995

SAT PIX AND 88D FINALLY INDCTNG TRAINING OVR OH BEGINNING TO END AND
A BACK EDGE TO THE HVIER RAINS HDING FOR FFA AREA IN RNK CWA.  THIS
TREND SHUD CONT THRU THE PREDAWN HRS...AND MAY ALLOW FOR TAKING DOWN
THE FFA FOR THOSE COUNTIES.

WARM FRNT STILL LCTD TO THE W OF RNK CWA.  DRNG THE DAY TDY FRNT SHU
CONT ITS STRGL TO THE NE...AND SHUD SEE AT LEAST SWRN PART OF CWA
BRKING INTO WARMER AIR. NEXT SHRTWV PRGD TO TRK TO THE S OF MUCH OF
CWA WITH BEST CHC FOR HVIER AND BEST ORGANZD SHOWERS/TSTMS POSS
MAKING IT INTO FAR SW/NRN NC MTNS AND WILL ADDRESS PTNTL FOR HVIER
PRECIP LATER THIS PM AND TONIGHT IN SEVERE WX PTNTL AT 630 AM.

FRNT SEEMS TO LIFT NWD THRU TONIGHT...THEN TEMPORARILY BEGINS TO SINK
SWD AGAIN AS BACKDOOR TYPE FRNT DRING FRI AS H5 RIDGE SHARPENS AND
UPPER WINDS BECOME MORE NWRLY AND STRNGR NWRLY.  ETA SFC BASED LI'S
ALSO INDCTING THIS TREND AND COULD ADD UP TO SOME INTRSTING WX ON
FRI PM FOR SWRN PDMNT AND UP AGNST BLU RDG.

FINALLY AS WE HEAD INTO THE WEEKEND MORE POTNT SHRTWV LIFTS INTO THE
GREAT LAKES AND LIFTS FRONT BACK TO THE NORTH FOR REMDER OF WEEKEND
TO BRING A TASTE OF HOT AND HUMID TO THE AREA.

ROA 72/57/85/63 5333

NOGUEIRA

The office that day

Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 8:58 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Mercer	3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 1996 Every 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.