Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2000

Flash Flood Warning 23, NWS Baltimore/Washington

July 31, 20005 counties in West Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this flash flood warning at Jul 31, 2000, 5:23 PM EDT for 5 counties in West Virginia. It was in force for 97 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 31, 2000, 5:23 PM EDT (21:23 UTC)
Expired: Jul 31, 2000, 7:00 PM EDT
In force: 97 min
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Grant County, WV, Hampshire County, WV, Hardy County, WV, Mineral County, WV, Pendleton County, WV

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:24 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 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 133 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: 234 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -85 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 669 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 30 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 
WGUS51 KLWX 312123
FFWLWX
WVC023-027-031-057-071-312300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON
523 PM EDT MON JUL 31 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  GRANT COUNTY IN EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA
  HAMPSHIRE COUNTY IN EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA
  HARDY COUNTY IN EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA
  MINERAL COUNTY IN EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA
  PENDLETON COUNTY IN EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 700 PM EDT

* AT 523 PM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
  SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY MINERAL COUNTY SOUTH
  ACROSS THE EASTERN PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA INCLUDING HARDY
  HAMPSHIRE GRANT AND PENDLETONS COUNTIES MOVING SLOWLY EAST AND
  NORTHEAST. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING RAINFALL
  RATES IN EXCESS OF 2 INCHES PER HOUR AND FLOODING IS LIKELY.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...COUNTRY ROADS...NORMALLY DRY WASHES AND
ARROYOS...AS WELL AS FARMLAND ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS.

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 3958 7874 3847 7960 3883 7901 3946 7846

JLW/JAB

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 Baltimore/Washington wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jul 31, 3:20 PM EDT, 2 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 3:20 PM EDT, 2 hours 3 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
320 PM EDT MON JUL 31 2000

FLORIDA WEATHER HAS COME TO THE MID ATL STATES WITH TMPS IN THE 80S
AND DWPTS IN THE 70S...AND IT/S NOT LEAVING SOON. PERSISTENCE FORECAST
WILL WORK OUT JUST FINE FOR THIS PACKAGE. SLW MOVNG SCATTERED SHWRS
AND TSTMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WILL BE AROUND THROUGH THE WEEK. TROPICAL
PLUME EVIDENCED ON THE WV LOOP INDICATES DEEP MOISTURE AND PW VALS
ARE BTWN 1.5 AND TWO INCHES. NOT MUCH IN THE WAY OF FORCING...BUT
RIDGE LINES AND WEAK IMPULSES WILL BE ENUF FOR RNDM CONVCTN...MAINLY
DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS.

EXTNDED PROGS HAVE A DRIER CANADIAN HGH PRES AREA MOVING IN LATE
SAT. MRF MOS GUIDANCE SHWS REMARKABLE DAY TO DAY CONSISTENCY THRU
THE WEEK.

STRONG
FCSTID = 78
DCA   70  85  70  87 /  40  40  40  40
BWI   70  85  70  87 /  40  40  40  40
MRB   70  85  70  87 /  40  40  40  40
IAD   70  85  70  87 /  40  40  40  40
CHO   70  85  70  87 /  40  40  40  40
HGR   70  85  70  87 /  40  40  40  40
NHK   70  85  70  87 /  40  40  40  40

.LWX...
DC...NONE.
MD...NONE.
VA...NONE.
WV...NONE.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 31, 2:35 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Hardy	55 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West 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.