Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1999

Flash Flood Warning 7, NWS Wilmington, NC

July 6, 1999Columbus County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this flash flood warning at Jul 6, 1999, 8:47 AM EDT for Columbus County, North Carolina. It was in force for 118 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 6, 1999, 8:47 AM EDT (12:47 UTC)
Expired
Jul 6, 1999, 10:45 AM EDT
In force
118 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Columbus County, NC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 37 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:48 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

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 172 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 1999-07-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1883 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 1999-07-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 46 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
1883 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-103 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1018 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KILM 061255
FFWILM
NCC047-061445-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
847 AM EDT TUE JUL 6 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A

* FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  COLUMBUS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 1045 AM EDT

* AT 841 AM EDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS     
  PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL ALONG A LINE FROM OLD DOCK
  TO NEAR CERRO GORDO. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALMOST STATIONARY
  AND PRODUCING RAINFALL RATES OF 2 INCHES PER HOUR.

* THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL BE NEAR...
  OLD DOCK AT 850 AM EDT
  WILLIAMS AT 850 AM EDT 

DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN HAVE 
FALLEN BETWEEN OLD DOCK AND WILLIAMS OVER THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS.

A FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.
IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.
RESIDENTS LIVING ALONG STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS
SWIFTLY FLOWING WATERS OR WATERS OF UNKNOWN DEPTH BY FOOT OR BY
AUTOMOBILE. IF YOUR VEHICLE STALLS, ABANDON IT IMMEDIATELY AND SEEK
HIGHER GROUND.

EXCESSIVE RUNOF^F FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL
STREAMS...ROADS AND OTHER LOW LYING AREAS.

$

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 Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jul 6, 8:25 AM EDT, 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 6, 8:25 AM EDT, 22 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
825 AM EDT TUE JUL 6 1999

LATEST MSAS AND KLTX 88-D TRENDS INDICATE CONVECTION MOVING TOWARD
THE COAST INTO CONTINUED FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT. WILL UPDATE COASTAL
COUNTIES WITH 30-40 POPS.

.ILM...HEAT ADVISORY TODAY AND WEDNESDAY NCZ087-096-097-099>101-
       SCZ017-023-024-032>034-039-046.

DCH

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 6, 9:14 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBrunswick46 min
Jul 6, 9:39 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningILMBrunswick3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 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.