Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 11, NWS Raleigh, NC

July 23, 1997Lee County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this flash flood warning at Jul 23, 1997, 2:36 AM EDT for Lee County, North Carolina. It was in force for 2 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 23, 1997, 2:36 AM EDT (06:36 UTC)
Expired
Jul 23, 1997, 4:45 AM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Lee County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 94 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1997-07-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1635 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1997-07-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 37 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
1635 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
988 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KRDU 230639
FFWRDU
NCC105-230845-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
236 AM EDT WED JUL 23 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...LEE COUNTY
 
RAIN CONTINUES TO FALL OVER THE AREA. THIS HAS RESULTED IN SEVERE URBAN
FLOODING. THE STORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE MORNING AND WILL RESULT
IN RAINFALL RATES THAT EXCEED TWO INCHES PER HOUR.
 
 
FLOOD WATERS ARE HARDER TO SEE AT NIGHT AND MOST FLASH FLOOD
FATALITIES OCCUR AT NIGHT.  AVOID DRIVING ACROSS FLOODED ROADWAYS.
WATER TWO FEET DEEP CAN FLOAT MOST CARS OFF THE ROAD.  REPORT
FLOODING TO LOCAL EMERGENCY OFFICIALS IMMEDIATELY.
 
RHJ

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

Local storm report, Jul 22, 9:08 PM EDT, 5 hours 28 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
908 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0825 PM    RALEIGH                   NC   TORNADO
07/22/97   WAKE                           PUBLIC REPORT VIA RALEIGH
                                          POLICE OF TORNADO WITH TREES
                                          AND POWER LINES DOWN ON POOLE
                                          ROAD NEAR THE BELTLINE
                                          (I-440). POLICE CHECKED AREA
                                          BUT NO DAMAGE FOUND.

JBM

The office that day

Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 23, 12:33 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHStanly57 min
Jul 23, 1:33 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHStanly117 min
Jul 23, 2:22 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHHarnett, Moore2 hr
Jul 23, 3:21 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHDavidson, Montgomery, Randolph2 hr
Jul 23, 3:21 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHChatham2 hr
Jul 23, 3:35 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHStanly115 min
Jul 23, 4:47 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHHarnett, Lee, Moore118 min
Jul 23, 5:36 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHDavidson, Montgomery, Stanly2 hr
Jul 23, 6:44 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHMoore2 hr
Jul 23, 7:45 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHDavidson, Montgomery, Stanly105 min
Jul 23, 9:12 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHMontgomery, Moore, Randolph4 hr
Jul 23, 9:12 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHDavidson, Stanly4 hr
Jul 23, 9:20 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHStanly6 hr
Jul 23, 2:10 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHAnson, Stanly12 hr
Jul 23, 7:27 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHStanly4 hr

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.