Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 16, NWS Charleston, WV

March 1, 1997Clay County, Kanawha County, Roane County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Mar 1, 1997, 1:50 PM EST for Clay County, Kanawha County, Roane 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
Mar 1, 1997, 1:50 PM EST (18:50 UTC)
Expired
Mar 1, 1997, 6:00 PM EST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

Counties Clay County, WV, Kanawha County, WV, Roane County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:50 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, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 216 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 011850 RRA
FFWCRW
KYC019-043-OHC053-087-WVC015-035-039-043-053-079-087-012300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
150 PM EST SAT MAR 1 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS EXTENDED THE FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS 
UNTIL 600 PM EST FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN

WESTERN WEST VIRGINIA
         JACKSON             LINCOLN             MASON...

WEST CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
         CLAY                KANAWHA             PUTNAM
         ROANE...

EXTREME SOUTHERN OHIO
         GALLIA              LAWRENCE...

EASTERN KENTUCKY
         BOYD                CARTER.

THE FOLLOWING CITIES IN WEST VIRGINIA ARE INCLUDED IN THE WARNING...
CHARLESTON...CLAY.

THE FOLLOWING CITIES IN OHIO ARE INCLUDED IN THE WARNING...
GALLIPOLIS...IRONTON.

THE FOLLOWING CITY IN KENTUCKY IS INCLUDED IN THE WARNING...
ASHLAND

MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH
THESE COUNTIES THROUGH MID AFTERNOON.  THIS WILL KEEP STREAMS
ALREADY OUT OF THEIR BANKS ABOVE FLOOD AND PUSH ADDITIONAL STREAMS
INTO FLOOD.

THIS FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING IS OCCURRING AND IS EXPECTED
TO INCREASE SOME DURING THE AFTERNOON.

MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT CROSS
BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY.  NEVER
TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT. 
IMMEDIATELY MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE RISING WATER.  STAY
TUNED TO NWS W6EATHER RADIO OR THE MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR
UPDATES.


END

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, 11:37 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXWebster5 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.