Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 49, NWS Blacksburg, VA

March 20, 1998Bedford County, Botetourt County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Mar 20, 1998, 4:30 PM EST for Bedford County, Botetourt County, Virginia. It was in force for 2 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 20, 1998, 4:30 PM EST (21:30 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 1998, 6:35 PM EST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bedford County, VA, Botetourt County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:33 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

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 30 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1998-03-20Temperature 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1998-03-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 179 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
595 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
234 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 202132
FFWRNK
VAC019-023-202335-

BULLETIN--EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
430 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG VA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 635 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA

   ...WESTERN BEDFORD COUNTY

IN WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA

   ...EASTERN BOTETOURT COUNTY


AT 430 PM...DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A BAND OF HEAVY SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING ALONG THE BLUE RIDGE ALONG THE
BEDFORD/ BOTETOURT COUNTY LINE.  RAINFALL RATES OF UP TO AN INCH
PER HALF HOUR ARE POSSIBLE IN THIS AREA.

THIS RAINFALL WILL PUSH SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS OUT OF THEIR
BANKS.  WATER WILL FLOOD LOW LYING ROADS AND OVERTOP LOW WATER
BRIDGES.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT. MOST FLASH 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 UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

DD

The office that day

Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 20, 7:04 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKGrayson3 hr
Mar 20, 7:23 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKGrayson32 min
Mar 20, 9:58 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKMontgomery3 hr
Mar 20, 11:09 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKRoanoke, City of Roanoke3 hr
Mar 20, 11:09 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKCity of Salem3 hr
Mar 20, 1:21 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKPulaski29 min
Mar 20, 2:25 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKGiles, Montgomery2 hr
Mar 20, 2:35 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKFloyd50 min
Mar 20, 3:15 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKRoanoke, City of Salem3 hr
Mar 20, 3:15 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKCity of Roanoke3 hr
Mar 20, 3:34 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKRoanoke, City of Salem36 min
Mar 20, 3:34 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKCity of Roanoke36 min
Mar 20, 3:41 PM ESTTornado WarningRNKHenry, City of Martinsville44 min
Mar 20, 4:03 PM ESTTornado WarningRNKPittsylvania62 min
Mar 20, 4:28 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKHalifax47 min
Mar 20, 4:51 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKPittsylvania49 min
Mar 20, 5:31 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKRoanoke, City of Salem3 hr
Mar 20, 5:31 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKCity of Roanoke3 hr
Mar 20, 6:11 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKRockbridge, City of Buena Vista, City of Lexington3 hr
Mar 20, 6:53 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKPittsylvania, City of Danville47 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.