Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 15, NWS Charleston, WV

March 1, 1997Webster County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Mar 1, 1997, 11:37 AM EST for Webster County, West Virginia. 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
Mar 1, 1997, 11:37 AM EST (16:37 UTC)
Expired
Mar 1, 1997, 4:45 PM EST
In force
5 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Webster County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 115 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:40 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 12:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 165 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1997-03-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1997-03-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 539 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
490 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
539 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
665 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 KCRW 011639
FFWCRW
WVC101-012145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
1137 AM EST SAT MAR 1 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...WEBSTER COUNTY
 
HEAVY RAIN THIS MORNING HAS CAUSED SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS ACROSS THE
AREA TO GO OVER THIER BANKS AND FLOOD IN SPOTS. FOLKS LIVING IN AREAS OF
POOR DRAINAGE AND NEAR STREAMS AND CREEKS THAT ARE PRONE TO FLOOD SHOULD
BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR FLOODING OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS.
 
MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING 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. DO NOT DRIVE AROUND POLICE BARRICADES.
 
GRAF

The office that day

Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 1, 7:12 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXLincoln, Wayne3 hr
Mar 1, 7:49 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXJackson3 hr
Mar 1, 8:16 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXMason5 hr
Mar 1, 8:32 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXMason5 hr
Mar 1, 9:10 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXKanawha4 hr
Mar 1, 9:15 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXKanawha4 hr
Mar 1, 9:37 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXWayne4 hr
Mar 1, 9:37 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXMason4 hr
Mar 1, 9:37 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXJackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Putnam4 hr
Mar 1, 10:15 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXClay, Roane4 hr
Mar 1, 1:50 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXClay, Kanawha, Roane4 hr
Mar 1, 1:50 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXJackson, Mason, Putnam4 hr
Mar 1, 1:50 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXLincoln4 hr
Mar 1, 3:18 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXCalhoun, Gilmer4 hr
Mar 1, 4:13 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXBraxton4 hr
Mar 1, 5:27 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXBoone, Kanawha33 min
Mar 1, 5:30 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXBoone, Kanawha30 min
Mar 1, 5:41 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXFayette49 min
Mar 1, 5:49 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXMason4 hr
Mar 1, 5:49 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXJackson4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West 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.