Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 68, NWS Morristown, TN

May 20, 1998Washington County, Virginia

NWS Morristown, TN issued this flash flood warning at May 20, 1998, 9:03 PM EDT for Washington County, 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
May 20, 1998, 9:03 PM EDT (01:03 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1998, 12:05 AM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Washington County, VA

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 198 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 00:00Z on 1998-05-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1319 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1998-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 75 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1319 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-47 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1463 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-33 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMRX 210102
FFWMRX
VAC191-210405-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
903 PM EDT WED MAY 20 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  WASHINGTON COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 1205 AM EDT

* AT 902 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  THAT CLUSTERS OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE LOCATED
  ACROSS MOST OF SOUTHEASTERN WASHINGTON COUNTY...MOVING SOUTHEAST
  AT 10 MPH.  PERSONS LIVING ALONG THE LAUREL CREEK NEED TO BE
  ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS.

* EXCESSIVE RAINFALL AT THE RATE OF 2 INCHES PER HOUR WILL PRODUCE
  FLOODING BETWEEN ABINGDO|N AND DAMASCUS THROUGH 1205 AM EDT.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGER OF FLOODING.

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.

NWS Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at May 20, 8:20 PM EDT, 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 8:20 PM EDT, 43 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
820 PM EDT WED MAY 20 1998

THE LEADING EDGE OF THE MCS IS NOW ENTERING WISE COUNTY VA.  ADAP
CONTINUES TO SHOW SURFACE BASED LIFTED INDICES AROUND -10 ACROSS ALL
OF SW VA AND NE TN.  KMRX VWP SHOWS SWLY LOW LVL WINDS OF AROUND 15
KNOTS AND SO THERE IS CONTINUED INFLOW INTO THIS MCS...ALBEIT WK.
FURTHER EAST...THERE HAVE BEEN ISOLATED PULSE SVR STORMS ACROSS MAINLY
WASHINGTON COUNTY VA.  BLV THESE HAVE BEEN FIRING ALONG AN OLD OUTFLOW
BNDRY.  THIS OLD BNDRY AND ITS INTERACTION WITH THE EWD-MOVING MCS WL
CONTINUE THE CHCS FOR STRONG TO SVR CONVECTION ACROSS MAINLY SW VA AND
EXTREME NE TN FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS.  ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF EAST TN
AND SW NC THE CHCS FOR CONVECTION WL BE SLIM TNT GIVEN THE CAP.  THE
TEMPS LOOK FINE.

MB

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 20, 8:40 PM EDT, 23 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
840 PM EDT WED MAY 20 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

705 PM     3 E ABINGDON              VA   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/20/98   WASHINGTON                     QUARTER SIZE HAIL ON WATAUGA
                                          ROAD OFF ROUTE 58. REPORTED
                                          BY SHERIFFS DISPATCH.

FERRELL
Local storm report, May 20, 8:40 PM EDT, 23 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
840 PM EDT WED MAY 20 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

705 PM     3 E ABINGDON              VA   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/20/98   WASHINGTON                     QUARTER SIZE HAIL ON WATAUGA
                                          ROAD OFF ROUTE 58. REPORTED
                                          BY SHERIFFS DISPATCH.

FERRELL

The office that day

Everything else NWS Morristown, TN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 8:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXWise48 min
May 20, 8:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXWashington51 min
May 20, 8:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXWashington46 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 1998Every flash flood warning in 1998

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.