Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1999

Flash Flood Warning 29, NWS Raleigh, NC

September 27, 1999Wayne County, Wilson County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this flash flood warning at Sep 27, 1999, 9:00 PM EDT for Wayne County, Wilson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 60 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: Sep 27, 1999, 9:00 PM EDT (01:00 UTC)
Expired: Sep 27, 1999, 10:00 PM EDT
In force: 60 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 50 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:03 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 00:00Z, 1.0 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 382 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 696 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 105 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 KRAH 280104
FFWRDU
NCC191-195-280200-

FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
900 EDT MON SEP 27 1999

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 1000 PM TONIGHT FOR 
WAYNE AND WILSON COUNTIES.  THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING ISSUED EARLIER 
FOR JOHNSTON COUNTY HAS NOW EXPIRED.

RAINFALL OF UP TO 2 INCHES IN THE LAST THREE HOURS AND CONTINUED 
MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN IN WAYNE AND WILSON COUNTIES HAS CAUSED 
NUMEROUS STREAMS AND CREEKS TO RISE OUT OF THEIR BANKS IN THE 
WARNING AREA.  

COUNTY OFFICIALS HAVE ALSO REPORTED WIDESPREAD PONDING OF WATER ON 
HIGHWAYS IN THE AREA MAKING IT VERY DIFFICULT TO DRIVE THIS EVENING.

RAPID RISES IN WATER LEVELS ARE LIKELY ON AREA CREEKS AND STREAMS.  
MOST FATALITIES FROM FLOODING OCCUR WHEN PEOPLE ATTEMPT TO CROSS 
FLOODED ROADWAYS IN THEIR VEHICLES AND ARE SWEPT AWAY.  FLOOD WATERS 
ON ROADS CAN BE ESPECIALLY DIFFICULT TO SEE AT NIGHT.  EXTREME 
CAUTION IS ADVISED FOR ANYBODY OUTDOORS IN THE FLOOD WARNING AREA 
TONIGHT. 

RFG

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 Raleigh, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Sep 27, 3:23 PM EDT, 5 hours 37 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 27, 3:23 PM EDT, 5 hours 37 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION ... UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
215 PM EDT MON SEP 27 1999

** HAVE DECIDED TO GO FORWARD WITH A FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT IN
EASTERN SECTIONS OF THE CWA. **

NEAR-TERM: VORT LOBE & ASSOCIATED PVA EXITING TO THE NE OF THE AREA
IS TAKING HEAVY PRECIP BAND WITH IT... LEAVING BEHIND PATCHY LIGHTER
RAIN ACROSS THE CWA. NO ADDITIONAL FLOODING PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN
RECEIVED SO FAR... EVEN FROM THE PREVIOUSLY-FLOODED COASTAL PLAIN
COUNTIES. ISENTROPIC LIFT EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TONIGHT ALONG WITH
THE DEEP SERLY/SRLY WIND FLOW & VERY MOIST AIR THROUGH THE COLUMN...
SO PLAN ON LIKELY TO CATEGORICAL POPS CWA-WIDE TONIGHT.

CONCERN EXISTS THAT NONE OF THE MODELS PICKED UP ON THE 90 KT JETLET
NOTED AT FFC AT 12Z AT 250 MB... AND AS A RESULT THEY MAY BE
UNDERPLAYING THE DEGREE OF UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE AND RESULTANT LIFT
OVER THE AREA THIS EVENING & OVERNIGHT. WIDESPREAD SHOWERS OVER SC
HAVE INCREASED IN INTENSITY OVER THE LAST FEW HOURS AS WELL. VERY
HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATERS THIS MORNING BOTH OVER THE AREA AND
UPSTREAM ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE EVEN FURTHER OVERNIGHT. GIVEN ALL
OF THIS & THE PRE-EXISTING FLOODING IN THE COASTAL PLAIN COUNTIES AS
WELL AS THE HEAVY RAIN OVER THE TRIANGLE THIS MORNING... MAY HAVE A
NEED FOR A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT IN THESE AREAS. WILL CHECK
RADAR TRENDS BEFORE MAKING FINAL DECISION ON THIS. THUNDER CHANCE
LOOKS MINISCULE WITH CAPES ONLY 400-800 AT BEST... BUT WILL LEAVE IN
A MINOR MENTION.

LONGER-TERM: AFTER UPPER JET PULLS NORTH OF THE AREA TUESDAY... ANY
FORCING FOR PRECIP LOOKS TO DIMINISH CONSIDERABLY... AS ONLY VERY
WEAK SHORTWAVE RIPPLES ARE FORECAST TO PASS THROUGH THE CWA TUE INTO
WED. WEAK TO MODERATE ISENTROPIC LIFT DOES PERSIST... AND THE
ATMOSPHERE REMAINS QUITE MOIST THROUGH TUE INTO TUE NIGHT... SO
SHOWER ACTIVITY IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION BY ANY MEANS...
ESPECIALLY IN THE WEST WHERE THE MODELS CONTINUE TO FOCUS THE
HEAVIEST QPF. MODELS ARE IN FAIR AGREEMENT ON THE OVERALL PATTERN
INTO WED... SHOWING MARKED DIFFERENCES IN THE LATTER PERIODS WITH
RESPECT TO THE INCOMING SFC FRONT AND UPPER TROUGH. ALL AGREE ON THE
LOW-MID LEVEL FLOW TURNING MORE SWRLY BY WED MORNING WHICH SHOULD
AID IN SOME DRYING ABOVE THE BOUNDARY LAYER. PLANS ARE FOR CHANCE
POPS TUE & TUE NIGHT... WITH THE HIGHEST VALUES IN THE WEST... AND
CHANCE POPS ON WED AS UPPER TROUGH APPROACHES.

EXTENDED: PLAN TO KEEP CURRENT TREND OF FRONTAL PASSAGE AND AN
ENDING TO THE SHOWERS THU MORNING. LONG RANGE MODELS ARE IN A BIT
BETTER AGREEMENT ON TIMING... WITH THE NOGAPS COMING MORE IN LINE
WITH THE MRF & THE EUROPEAN STILL SLOWER & DEEPER. DRY AND COOL
WEATHER FOR FRI INTO SAT.

.RAH...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT FOR GRANVILLE-VANCE-WARREN-HALIFAX-
DURHAM-WAKE-FRANKLIN-NASH-EDGECOMBE-WILSON-JOHNSTON-WAYNE-SAMPSON.

HARTFIELD

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 27, 8:41 PM EDT, 19 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
841 PM EDT MON SEP 27 1999

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

0830 PM    PRINCETON                 NC   FLOODING
09/27/99   JOHNSTON                       A CREEK WAS REPORTED 2
                                          FEET OUT OF ITS BANKS ON
                                          HARPER HOUSE ROAD IN SE
                                          JOHNSTON COUNTY (ABOUT 15
                                          MILES S OF PRINCETON).

Local storm report, Sep 27, 8:51 PM EDT, 9 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
851 PM EDT MON SEP 27 1999

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

0842 PM    MT OLIVE                  NC   FLOODING
09/27/99   WAYNE                          WATER IS CROSSING THE ROAD
                                          ON HWY 55 IN SOUTHERN
                                          WAYNE CO. AND HWY 111.

0847 PM    MT OLIVE                  NC   FLOODING
09/27/99   WAYNE                          WATER IS CROSSING THE ROAD
                                          ON HWY 55 AND HWY 111 IN
                                          SOUTHERN WAYNE CO.

Local storm report, Sep 27, 8:53 PM EDT, 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
853 PM EDT MON SEP 27 1999

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

0852 PM                              NC   FLOODING
09/27/99   WILSON                         NUMEROUS STREETS AND ROADS
                                          ARE FLOODING THOUGHOUT THE
                                          COUNTY.

Local storm report, Sep 27, 8:53 PM EDT, 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
853 PM EDT MON SEP 27 1999

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

0852 PM                              NC   FLOODING
09/27/99   WILSON                         NUMEROUS STREETS AND ROADS
                                          ARE FLOODING THOUGHOUT THE
                                          COUNTY.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 27, 11:12 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Edgecombe	108 min
Sep 28, 1:04 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Edgecombe	4 hr
Sep 28, 1:23 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Wayne	3 hr
Sep 28, 4:34 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Wayne	6 hr
Sep 28, 7:11 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Sampson	4 hr
Sep 28, 7:37 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Johnston, Nash, Wilson	3 hr
Sep 28, 8:19 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Edgecombe	4 hr
Sep 28, 11:07 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Johnston, Wayne, Wilson	2 hr
Sep 28, 11:07 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Nash	2 hr
Sep 28, 4:29 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Edgecombe, Johnston, Nash, Wayne, Wilson	4 hr
Sep 28, 4:29 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Sampson	4 hr
Sep 28, 4:29 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Wake	4 hr
Sep 28, 5:27 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Durham, Orange	3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 1999 Every 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.