Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2000

Flash Flood Warning 13, NWS Baltimore/Washington

July 14, 2000Fairfax County, City of Fairfax, City of Falls Church, Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this flash flood warning at Jul 14, 2000, 10:19 PM EDT for Fairfax County, City of Fairfax, City of Falls Church, Virginia. It was in force for 56 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties.

The facts

Issued: Jul 14, 2000, 10:19 PM EDT (02:19 UTC)
Expired: Jul 14, 2000, 11:15 PM EDT
In force: 56 min
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties City of Fairfax, VA, City of Falls Church, VA, Fairfax County, VA

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 17 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:23 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 9 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: 1500 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1168 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 70 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 109 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 2.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KLWX 150220
FFWLWX
VAC059-600-610-150315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON
1019 PM EDT FRI JUL 14 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CITY OF FAIRFAX IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA
  CITY OF FALLS CHURCH IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA
  FAIRFAX COUNTY IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 1115 PM EDT

* AT 1013 PM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY
  RAIN OVER FAIRFAX...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE THUNDERSTORM WITH EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL BE NEAR...
   TYSONS CORNER...FALLS CHURCH AT 1022 PM EDT
   GREAT FALLS...MCLEAN AT 1026 PM EDT
   THE AMERICAN LEGION BRIDGE AT 1028 PM EDT

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT
QUICKLY. MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY
IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS
SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

A FLASH 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.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA.

LAT...LON 3888 7746 3874 7724 3900 7713 3904 7728

HTS/SMZ

The office that day

Everything else NWS Baltimore/Washington issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 14, 8:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Prince William, City of Manassas, City of Manassas Park	66 min
Jul 14, 8:51 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Clarke, Frederick, Warren	39 min
Jul 14, 8:51 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Shenandoah	39 min
Jul 14, 10:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Loudoun	24 min
Jul 15, 12:35 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	King George, Stafford	115 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 2000 Every flash flood warning in 2000

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.