Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 21, NWS Morristown, TN

May 3, 1997Cherokee County, North Carolina

NWS Morristown, TN issued this flash flood warning at May 3, 1997, 5:23 AM EDT for Cherokee County, North Carolina. It was in force for 5 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 3, 1997, 5:23 AM EDT (09:23 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1997, 10:30 AM EDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Cherokee County, NC

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 130 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:23 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 200 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 1997-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 888 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 1997-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 120 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
888 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1099 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
120 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
242 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
5.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KMRX 030926
FFWMRX
NCC039-031430-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES TN
523 AM EDT SAT MAY 3 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...CHEROKEE COUNTY
 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED RAINFALL OF 2 TO 3
INCHES HAD FALLEN OVER MUCH OF CHEROKEE COUNTY OF NORTH CAROLINA FROM
FRIDAY EVENING INTO EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. CREEKS AND STREAMS IN
CHEROKEE COUNTY WERE REPORTED TO BE AT BANKFULL...WITH SEVERAL
HOURS OF ADDITIONAL MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINS EXPECTED.  THUS...A FLASH
FLOOD WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR CHEROKEE COUNTY THROUGH 1030 AM EDT.
 
THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE REPORTED THAT THE VALLEY RIVER AT ANDREWS WAS
AT BANKFULL.  THE RIVERBEND CAMPGROUND ON THE VALLEY RIVER NEAR TOMOTLA
WILL LIKELY EXPERIENCE SOME FLOODING.  IF THESE MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINS
CONTINUE AS EXPECTED...THE VALLEY RIVER MAY CREST NEAR THE FLOOD STAGE O12 FEET LATER TODAY.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT.  IT'S
IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO STREAMS..6.RIVERS...OR
CREEKS WHICH CAN BECOME KILLERS IN HEAVY RAINS.  CAMPERS SHOULD
AVOID CAMPING ALONG STREAMS OR CREEKS DURING THREATENING RAINS.

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 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.