Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 59, NWS Charleston, WV

March 3, 1997Calhoun County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Mar 3, 1997, 9:03 AM EST for Calhoun 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 3, 1997, 9:03 AM EST (14:03 UTC)
Expired
Mar 3, 1997, 2:30 PM EST
In force
5 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Calhoun County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:04 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 12:00Z, 2.1 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1997-03-03Temperature 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 12:00Z on 1997-03-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 79 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
1098 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
79 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
299 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 031403
FFWCRW
WVC013-005-031930-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
903 AM EST MON MAR 3 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...S...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...CALHOUN COUNTY
 
IN SOUTHWEST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...BOONE COUNTY
 
IFLOWS AUTOMATED RAIN GAUGES INDICATED BETWEEN THREE QUARTERS AND AN
INCH OF RAIN DURING THE PAST 3 HOURS. WITH THE GROUND ALREADY
SATURATED...THIS IS ENOUGH TO CAUSE FLASH FLOODING.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREATh 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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 3, 8:41 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXGilmer6 hr
Mar 3, 9:03 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXBoone5 hr
Mar 3, 9:38 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXPutnam6 hr
Mar 3, 10:01 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXKanawha6 hr
Mar 3, 10:31 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXUpshur5 hr
Mar 3, 11:14 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXPocahontas6 hr
Mar 3, 11:38 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXDoddridge, Pleasants, Ritchie, Tyler6 hr
Mar 3, 12:22 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXLincoln5 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.