Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS Blacksburg, VA

March 14, 1997Watauga County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Mar 14, 1997, 8:18 AM EST for Watauga County, North Carolina. It was in force for 7 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 14, 1997, 8:18 AM EST (13:18 UTC)
Expired
Mar 14, 1997, 3:00 PM EST
In force
7 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Watauga County, NC

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 153 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:22 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 162 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1997-03-14Temperature 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1997-03-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 393 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
541 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
393 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
471 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 KROA 141323
FFWRNK
NCC189-142000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
818 AM EST FRI MAR 14 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG VA HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 300 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA

   ...WATAUGA COUNTY

AUTOMATED RAIN GAGES IN WATAUGA COUNTY HAVE INDICATED OVER 5
INCHES OF RAIN ACROSS PARTS OF THE COUNTY IN THE LAST 24
HOURS...WITH MORE THAN 4 INCHES OCCURRING OVERNIGHT.  WATAUGA
COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT HAS REPORTED THE SOUTH FORK OF THE NEW
RIVER AT BANKFULL WITH RUNOFF CONTINUING.  

OTHER CREEKS AND STREAMS IN THE COUNTY ARE LIKELY TO BE NEAR OR AT
BANKFULL.

ADDITIONALLY...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES THAT WHILE THE STEADY RAIN
HAS ENDED...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED ACROSS EASTERN
TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...TRACKING TOWARD THE
NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA.  THE COMBINATION OF RUNOFF AND
ADDITIONAL RAIN WILL RESULT IN FLOODING OF SOME SMALL RIVERS...
STREAMS AND CREEKS.

MOST FLOOD DEATHS 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.
TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

NOGUEIRA

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 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.