Alert archive / Rhode Island / Flash Flood Warnings in 1999

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

January 15, 1999Kent County, Washington County, Rhode Island

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this flash flood warning at Jan 15, 1999, 1:48 PM EST for Kent County, Washington County, Rhode Island. It was in force for 8 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
Jan 15, 1999, 1:48 PM EST (18:48 UTC)
Expired
Jan 15, 1999, 9:30 PM EST
In force
8 hr
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Kent County, RI, Washington County, RI

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:38 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

Brookhaven, NY (KOKX), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 129 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, Brookhaven, NY at 12:00Z on 1999-01-15Temperature 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 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Brookhaven, NY at 12:00Z on 1999-01-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 396 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
370 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
396 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
431 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 KBOX 151850
FFWBOS
CTC013-015-MAC005-021-023-025-RIC001-003-005-007-009-160230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
148 PM EST FRI JAN 15 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  TOLLAND COUNTY IN CONNECTICUT
  WINDHAM COUNTY IN CONNECTICUT
  BRISTOL COUNTY IN MASSACHUSETTS
  NORFOLK COUNTY IN MASSACHUSETTS
  PLYMOUTH COUNTY IN MASSACHUSETTS
  SUFFOLK COUNTY IN MASSACHUSETTS
  BRISTOL COUNTY IN RHODE ISLAND
  KENT COUNTY IN RHODE ISLAND
  NEWPORT COUNTY IN RHODE ISLAND
  PROVIDENCE COUNTY IN RHODE ISLAND
  WASHINGTON COUNTY IN RHODE ISLAND
  ...INCLUDING THE BOSTON AND PROVIDENCE METROPOLITAN AREAS

* UNTIL 930 PM EST

* AT 145 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADARS
  INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAIN ACROSS EASTERN CONNECTICUT SOUTHWARD
  TO THE WATERS SOUTH OF LONG ISLAND.  THE AREA WAS MOVING 
  SLOWLY EAST AT 20 MPH AND WILL OVERSPREAD RHODE ISLAND
  AND SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS WHERE OVER ONE INCH HAS ALREADY FALLEN.

* HEAVY RAINFALL OF 1 TO 1.5 INCHES WILL FALL BETWEEN 2 PM AND 6 PM 
  IN THE WARNING COUNTIES AND WILL LIKELY LEAD TO FLOODING OF SMALL
  STREAMS AS WELL AS SIGNIFICANT FLOODING OF STREETS - HIGHWAYS AND 
  UNDERPASSES DUE TO SNOW AND ICE CLOGGED STORM DRAINS.

SOME LOCALIZED FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS HAS ALREADY OCCURRED 
AND THESE CONDITIONS WILL WORSEN SIGNIFICANTLY LATE THIS AFTERNOON.
A VERY DIFFICULT EVENING COMMUTE IS LIKELY FOR THE PROVIDENCE AND 
BOSTON METROPOLITAN AREAS AS SOME ROADWAYS BECOME FLOODED.

NEVER ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES OR ROADS WHERE WATER COVERS THE 
ROADWAY.  IT ONLY TAKES A FOOT OR TWO OF WATER TO WASH MOST CARS 
AWAY.  KNOW SOME ALTERNATE ROUTES BEFORE YOU START TRAVELING IN CASE 
ROADS HAVE BEEN FLOODED AND CLOSED.

DRV/JL

The office that day

Everything else NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 15, 1:48 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningBOXBristol, Newport, Providence8 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Rhode Island, 1999Every flash flood warning in 1999

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.