Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 21, NWS Baltimore/Washington

November 7, 1997Washington County, Maryland; Loudoun County, Virginia; Berkeley County, Jefferson County, West Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this flash flood warning at Nov 7, 1997, 1:40 PM EST for Washington County, Maryland; Loudoun County, Virginia; Berkeley County, Jefferson County, West Virginia. It was in force for 4 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: Nov 7, 1997, 1:40 PM EST (18:40 UTC)
Expired: Nov 7, 1997, 5:30 PM EST
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area: Whole counties

Counties Washington County, MD, Loudoun County, VA, Berkeley County, WV, Jefferson County, WV

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:44 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 60 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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 436 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 225 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 747 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 KWBC 071839
FFWWBC
MDC001-043-VAC043-047-061-069-107-139-157-171-187-WVC003-027-
031-037-065-072230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STERLING VA
140 PM EST FRI NOV 7 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VA HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHEASTERN WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...BERKELEY COUNTY
   ...NORTHERN HARDY COUNTY
   ...HAMPSHIRE COUNTY
   ...JEFFERSON COUNTY
   ...MORGAN COUNTY
 
IN WESTERN MARYLAND
 
   ...EASTERN ALLEGANY COUNTY
   ...WESTERN WASHINGTON COUNTY
 
IN NORTHWESTERN VIRGINIA
 
   ...SHENANDOAH COUNTY
   ...FREDERICK COUNTY IN VIRGINIA
   ...PAGE COUNTY
   ...WARREN COUNTY
   ...CLARKE COUNTY
   ...RAPPAHANNOCK COUNTY
 
IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA
 
   ...WESTERN LOUDOUN COUNTY
   ...CULPEPER COUNTY
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA
 
   ...FAUQUIER COUNTY
 
MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE OVER THE WARNING AREA FOR THE
REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON.  MANY SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS ARE AT
OR NEAR BANKFULL AND EXPECTED ADDITIONAL RAINFALL OF AT LEAST 1
INCH...WITH HIGHER AMOUNTS IN THE MOUNTAINS...WILL PUSH THESE
CREEKS AND STREAMS OUT OF THEIR BANKS LATER TODAY.
 
THIS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME A DANGEROUS FLOOD SITUATION LATER
TODAY.  STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR
FURTHER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.
 
IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE TO ESCAPE FLOOD
WATERS.  DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS
RISING.
 
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 TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
BSG/JA

The office that day

Everything else NWS Baltimore/Washington issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 7, 1:40 PM EST	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Allegany	4 hr
Nov 7, 5:25 PM EST	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Allegany, Frederick, Washington	2 hr
Nov 7, 8:54 AM EST	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Shenandoah	3 hr
Nov 7, 1:40 PM EST	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Clarke, Fauquier, Frederick, Page, Rappahannock, Shenandoah and 1 more	4 hr
Nov 7, 1:40 PM EST	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Culpeper	4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 1997 Flash Flood Warnings in Maryland, 1997 Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 1997 Every flash flood warning in 1997

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.