Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 31, NWS Charleston, WV

March 2, 1997Wirt County, Wood County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Mar 2, 1997, 1:08 AM EST for Wirt County, Wood County, West Virginia. It was in force for 6 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 2, 1997, 1:08 AM EST (06:08 UTC)
Expired
Mar 2, 1997, 7:00 AM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

Counties Wirt County, WV, Wood County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:12 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 184 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 1997-03-02Temperature 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 1997-03-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 458 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
945 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
84 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
458 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
427 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 020610
FFWCRW
WVC017-073-085-095-105-107-021200-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
108 AM EST SUN MAR 2 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...S...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...DODDRIDGE COUNTY
 
IN NORTHWEST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...PLEASANTS COUNTY...RITCHIE COUNTY...TYLER COUNTY
   ...WIRT COUNTY...WOOD COUNTY
 
A LARGE AREA OF MODERATE RAIN BEGAN MOVING INTO NORTHWESTERN WEST
VIRGINIA AROUND MIDNIGHT. THIS AREA OF RAIN IS AHEAD OF A SLOW MOVING
COLD FRONT AND WILL CONTINUE TO DROP SOUTHEASTWARD THROUGH THE NIGHT.
THE RAIN IS FALLING OVER ALREADY SATURATED GROUND AND RUNOFF WILL BE
RAPID.
 
ALREADY TYLER COUNTY OFFICIALS REPORT STREAMS COMING OUT OF THEIR BANKS.
WATER WAS RISING ONTO COUNTY ROUTE 23 AT TYLER CITY AND ONTO SELLARS
ROAD IN MIDDLEBOURNE.
 
MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR WATER STANDING ON OR FLOWING ACROSS
ROADWAYS AND AVOID DRIVING THROUGH THESE AREAS. PERSONS LIVING ALONG
SMALL STREAMS OR CREEKS IN THIS AREA SHOULD MONITOR WATER LEVELS AND
BE READY TO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. WATCH OUT FOR MUD SLIDES.
 
ZINN
 
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 1, 10:15 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXJackson, Mason6 hr
Mar 2, 1:08 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXDoddridge, Ritchie, Tyler6 hr
Mar 2, 1:08 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXPleasants6 hr
Mar 2, 2:14 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXCabell, Putnam6 hr
Mar 2, 3:06 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXBraxton, Calhoun, Clay, Kanawha, Roane5 hr
Mar 2, 3:06 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXLincoln, Wayne5 hr
Mar 2, 3:06 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXGilmer5 hr
Mar 2, 3:58 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXJackson, Mason4 hr
Mar 2, 7:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXWayne5 hr
Mar 2, 7:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXCabell, Kanawha, Lincoln, Putnam5 hr
Mar 2, 7:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXRoane, Wirt5 hr
Mar 2, 7:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXJackson5 hr
Mar 2, 7:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXCalhoun5 hr
Mar 2, 7:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXDoddridge, Ritchie5 hr
Mar 2, 7:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXMason5 hr
Mar 2, 7:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXClay5 hr
Mar 2, 7:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXBraxton, Gilmer5 hr
Mar 2, 7:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXPleasants, Tyler, Wood5 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.