Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 1999

Flash Flood Warning 28, NWS Blacksburg, VA

September 5, 1999City of Roanoke, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 5, 1999, 9:00 AM EDT for City of Roanoke, 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: Sep 5, 1999, 9:00 AM EDT (13:00 UTC)
Expired: Sep 5, 1999, 12:00 PM EDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Whole counties

County City of Roanoke, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:01 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, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 40 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 718 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 124 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 198 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 051305
FFWRNK
VAC063-161-770-775-051600-

BULLETIN--IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING FOR SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
900 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLOOD WARNING FOR SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS FOR...
  FLOYD COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA.
  ROANOKE COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA.
  ROANOKE IN SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA.
  SALEM IN SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA.

* UNTIL NOON EDT.

* AT 900 AM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY
  HEAVY RAINFALL IN A BAND OF RAIN EXTENDING ACROSS SOUTHERN ROANOKE
  COUNTY AND INTO FLOYD COUNTY.  THIS BAND HAS BEEN NEARLY
  STATIONARY FOR THE PAST 3 HOURS...WITH RAINFALL AMOUNTS
  APPROACHING 4 INCHES IN SPOTS. THIS RAIN BAND WILL SHIFT SLOWLY
  WEST...AND AN ADDITIONAL INCH OR TWO OF RAIN IS LIKELY THROUGH
  1100 AM. HEAVY RAIN WILL ALSO OVERSPREAD THE REST OF ROANOKE
  COUNTY.

  THIS WILL CAUSE CREEKS AND SMALL STREAMS TO LEAVE THEIR
  BANKS...ESPECIALLY BACK...BOTTOM AND MILL CREEKS IN SOUTHERN
  ROANOKE COUNTY...AND LICK FORK...BRUSH CREEK...AND THE
  HEADWATERS OF THE LITTLE RIVER IN FLOYD COUNTY.

*
<< CALL TO ACTION >> DON'T DRIVE ACRvOSS FLOODED ROADS! MOST FLASH
FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.

.END/JACKSON

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 Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Sep 5, 3:20 AM EDT, 5 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 5, 3:20 AM EDT, 5 hours 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
320 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 1999

UPDATED ADVISORY SECTION FOR LAST MINUTE ADJUSTMENTS IN FLASH FLOOD
WATCH & WIND ADVISORY.

***KFCX IS IN TROPICAL Z/R***

**ISSUED AN UPDATE TO THE ZONES TO PUT COUNTIES ALONG THE EASTERN
SLOPES OF THE BLUE RIDGE IN A FLOOD WATCH...MORNING ZONE PACKAGE
WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 330 PM**

CENTER OF DENNIS AT 06Z BETWEEN KGSB AND KPGV IN ERN NC...SLOWER AND
FURTHER WEST THAN 00Z ETA AND NGM. CURRENT TRENDS ARE INDICATING
THAT THE AFFECTS OF DENNIS FOR SW VA MAY BE UNDERESTIMATED IN THE
CURRENT ZONES. IF THE AVN IS RIGHT...WE WILL BE FEELING THE AFFECTS
INTO MONDAY. SINCE THE ETA AND NGM ARE CLOSER TO NHC TRACK...WILL
BASE THE FCST ON THEM...BUT WITH A LITTLE SLOWER MVMNT. INITIAL RAIN
BAND HAS MOVED AS FAR WEST AS THE NEW RIVER VALLEY OF VA &
GREENBRIER VALLEY OF WV. PIEDMONT AREAS IN THE FLOOD WATCH ARE
GETTING A BREAK...BUT WILL BE IN THE NEXT RAIN BAND IN A FEW HOURS.
LOOKS LIKE SHRA TRAINING WWD INTO NRN SECTIONS OF THE CWA ALONG THE
BLUE RIDGE WILL CONTINUE UNABATED...AND CONCERN IS THAT THESE AREAS
WILL GET THE HEAVIEST RAIN THROUGH TODAY. BASED ON THE IDEA THAT
THERE WILL BE A LITTLE SLOWER MVMNT TO THE REMNANTS OF DENNIS...
BASIN AVERAGE QPF OF >3 INCHES THRU 06Z MONDAY WAS SENT OUT FOR OUR
NERN CWA ALONG THE BLUE RIDGE. CONSIDERING THE POTENTIAL FOR RAINFALL
AMOUNTS NEAR FFG IN 3 TO 6 HOURS...WILL CHANGE THE WATCHES TO FLASH
FLOOD. FRANKLIN... BEDFORD...ROANOKE...BOTETOURT & ROCKBRIDGE COS
WILL EXTEND INTO TONITE...WILL LEAVE THE REST OF THE FA IN THEIR
WATCH THRU TODAY. WILL LEAVE THE VA HIGHLANDS OUT OF ANY WATCH FOR
NOW...AS THERE USUALLY IS NOT MUCH SPILLOVER IN A STRONG UPSLOPE
SITUATION...A LA FRAN.

KFCX VWP IS SHOWING 40 KTS AT 4000 FT. WILL ISSUE A WIND ADVISORY
FOR ELEVATIONS ABOVE 3000 FT ALONG THE BLUE RIDGE IN SW VA AND INTO
SE WV.

AS FOR MONDAY...NW WINDS AND DOWNSLOPE SHUD END THE PCPN FOR ALL BUT
SE WV...WHERE MOS POPS LOOK MUCH TOO LOW. WILL KEEP A LOW POP IN THE
WEST AND NE...CONSIDERING THE UNCERTAINTY WITH THE TRACK OF
DENNIS...AND THE APPCHNG COLD FNT FROM THE WEST. VERY WARM NGM MOS
TEMPS MONDAY EAST OF THE MTNS NOT UNREASONABLE WITH DOWNSLOPE AND
>20 C TEMPS UPSTREAM AT 850 MBS... BUT AGAIN CONSIDERING THE
UNCERTAINTY WITH DENNIS...WILL BACK OFF SOME.

.RNK
VA...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TODAY FOR VAZ033-043>047-058-059.
FLASH FLOOD WATCH TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR VAZ018>020-022>024-033-035.
WIND ADVISORY TODAY FOR VAZ011-013-014-016>020.
NC...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TODAY FOR NCZ005-006.
WV...WIND ADVISORY TODAY FOR WVZ044-045.

JJ

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 5, 8:50 AM EDT, 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VIRGINIA
850 AM EDT SUN SEP 05 1999

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

0800 AM    BEDFORD                   VA   FLOODING
09/05/99   BEDFORD                       APCO REPORTS WATER OVER
                                          ROADS RT 24 AND 122.
                                          GOOSE CREEK OUT OF BANKS
                                          AND ONTO ADJACENT
                                          ROADWAYS.

PMC

Local storm report, Sep 5, 8:50 AM EDT, 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VIRGINIA
850 AM EDT SUN SEP 05 1999

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

0800 AM    BEDFORD                   VA   FLOODING
09/05/99   BEDFORD                       APCO REPORTS WATER OVER
                                          ROADS RT 24 AND 122.
                                          GOOSE CREEK OUT OF BANKS
                                          AND ONTO ADJACENT
                                          ROADWAYS.

PMC

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 5, 2:45 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Rockbridge, City of Buena Vista, City of Lexington	4 hr
Sep 5, 6:44 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Rockbridge, City of Buena Vista	4 hr
Sep 5, 6:44 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Bedford, Botetourt	4 hr
Sep 5, 6:44 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	City of Lexington	4 hr
Sep 5, 9:00 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Roanoke, City of Salem	3 hr
Sep 5, 9:00 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Floyd	3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 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.