Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS Charleston, WV

March 1, 1997Jackson County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Mar 1, 1997, 7:49 AM EST for Jackson County, West Virginia. It was in force for 3 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, 7:49 AM EST (12:49 UTC)
Expired
Mar 1, 1997, 10:45 AM EST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Jackson County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:50 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

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 195 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH 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.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 1997-03-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 411 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
514 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
77 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
411 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
353 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCRW 011251
FFWCRW
WVC035-011545-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
749 AM EST SAT MAR 1 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN WEST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...JACKSON COUNTY
 
AT 747 AM EST DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES AND AUTOMATED RAIN GAGE REPORTS
INDICATE THAT 1.25 TO 1.75 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN SINCE 10 PM.
 
MORE MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN IS ANTICIPATED THROUGH THE DAY...FURTHER
AGGRAVATING THE FLOOD POTENTIAL.
 
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.
 
 
BELK
&

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

Special weather statement, Mar 1, 4:45 AM EST, 3 hours 4 minutes before
KYZ102-103-011300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
445 AM EST SAT MAR 1 1997

THE CHARLESTON RADAR AND AUTOMATED RAIN GAUGES ARE INDICATING
DOWNPOURS OCCURRING FROM THE STRONG SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING
ACROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING.  THE STORMS WILL CAUSE SOME RISES ON
AREA CREEKS AND STREAMS THIS MORNING AND PONDING OF WATER ON SOME OF
THE ROADWAYS.

PLEASE DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE ACROSS WATER FLOWING ACROSS
ROADWAYS.

END/WHITEHEAD
Special weather statement, Mar 1, 4:45 AM EST, 3 hours 4 minutes before
KYZ102-103-011300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT  ...CORRECTION...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
445 AM EST SAT MAR 1 1997

...HEAVY RAIN ACROSS BOYD AND CARTER COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST KENTUCKY...

THE CHARLESTON RADAR AND AUTOMATED RAIN GAUGES ARE INDICATING
DOWNPOURS OCCURRING FROM THE STRONG SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING
ACROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING.  THE STORMS WILL CAUSE SOME RISES ON
AREA CREEKS AND STREAMS THIS MORNING AND PONDING OF WATER ON SOME OF
THE ROADWAYS.

PLEASE DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE ACROSS WATER FLOWING ACROSS
ROADWAYS.

END/WHITEHEAD

CORRECTED...TO ADD THE COUNTIES...
Special weather statement, Mar 1, 4:49 AM EST, 3 hours before
KYZ102-103-011300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT  ...CORRECTION...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
445 AM EST SAT MAR 1 1997

...HEAVY RAIN ACROSS BOYD AND CARTER COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST KENTUCKY...

THE CHARLESTON RADAR AND AUTOMATED RAIN GAUGES ARE INDICATING
DOWNPOURS OCCURRING FROM THE STRONG SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING
ACROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING.  THE STORMS WILL CAUSE SOME RISES ON
AREA CREEKS AND STREAMS THIS MORNING AND PONDING OlF WATER ON SOME OF
THE ROADWAYS.

PLEASE DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE ACROSS WATER FLOWING ACROSS
ROADWAYS.

END/WHITEHEAD

CORRECTED...TO ADD THE COUNTIES...

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, 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 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.