Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 8, NWS Baltimore/Washington

July 2, 1997Orange County, Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this flash flood warning at Jul 2, 1997, 12:17 AM EDT for Orange County, Virginia. It was in force for 118 min. 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 2, 1997, 12:17 AM EDT (04:17 UTC)
Expired
Jul 2, 1997, 2:15 AM EDT
In force
118 min
Issued by
NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area
Whole counties

County Orange County, VA

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:17 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 00:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 95 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 1997-07-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 906 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 1997-07-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 36 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
906 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
524 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
76 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 020416
FFWWBC
VAC137-020615-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STERLING VA
1217 AM EDT WED JUL 2 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 215 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN NORTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA

   ...ORANGE COUNTY
 
AS OF 1210 AM DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED THE STRONGEST SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS FINALLY SHIFTING OUT OF MADISON AND GREENE COUNTIES
AND INTO WESTERN ORANGE COUNTY.  ORANGE COUNTY HAS ALREADY
RECEIVED OVER 4 INCHES OF RAIN FROM EARLIER SHOWERS AND THE
ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINS NOW BEING RECEIVED MAY CAUSE FLOODING.
A STORM SPOTTER REPORTED 4.10 INCHES OF RAIN IN SOMERSET IN ORANGE
COUNTY.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE PRODUCED NEARLY EIGHT INCHES /7.80/ OF
RAIN OVER PORTIONS OF MADISON COUNTY DURING THE EVENING.
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLASH FLOODING.

IF F,LASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE TO ESCAPE FLOOD
WATERS.  DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS
RISING.

JLW

&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 1, 9:22 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXGreene, Madison2 hr
Jul 1, 11:32 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXGreene, Madison118 min
Jul 2, 2:12 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXOrange118 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 1997Every 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.