Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2001

Flash Flood Warning 13, NWS Baltimore/Washington

June 21, 2001Nelson County, Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this flash flood warning at Jun 21, 2001, 7:50 PM EDT for Nelson County, Virginia. It was in force for 115 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: Jun 21, 2001, 7:50 PM EDT (23:50 UTC)
Expired: Jun 21, 2001, 9:45 PM EDT
In force: 115 min
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Nelson County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 142 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:52 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, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 81 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: 69 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -129 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1226 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 16 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 212355
FFWLWX
VAC125-220145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON
750 PM EDT THU JUN 21 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  NELSON COUNTY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 945 PM EDT

* AT 748 PM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL 10 MILES WEST OF
  WINTERGREEN...NEARLY STATIONARY. ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND
  THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OR MOVING INTO NELSON COUNTY. 

AN AUTOMATED RAIN GAUGE AT MONTEBELLO FISH CULTURAL STATION IN
WESTERN NELSON COUNTY MEASURED 2.99 INCHES OF RAIN IN ONE HOUR.   

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...COUNTRY ROADS...OTHER POOR DRAINAGE OR LOW LYING
AREAS.

IF WATER IS FLOWING ACROSS A ROADWAY TURN YOUR VEHICLE AROUND AND
FIND AN ALTERNATE ROUTE. 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. IFa YOUR VEHICLE STALLS, ABANDON IT IMMEDIATELY AND SEEK
HIGHER GROUND.

LAT...LON 3781 7917 3771 7904 3791 7881 3790 7894
$$
JLW

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 Jun 21, 3:35 PM EDT, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 21, 3:35 PM EDT, 4 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
335 PM EDT THU JUN 21 2001

FEW TSRA DVLPG...MAINLY ALNG PERIPHERY OF CWFA. W/ BEST FOCUSING
MECH/FORCING N AND W...WUD XPCT THESE AREAS TO BE MOST UNDER THE GUN
LTR TDA. GOOD OMEGA MVG INTO WRN SXNS THIS EVNG...SO LIKELY POPS
THERE...CHC ELSW.

H5 L/WV TROF DRIVES CDFNT INTO AREA TMRW. HWVR...FLW BCMS
PARALLEL...SO FWD MVMT STALLS. AMS AHD OF FNT EQUALLY UNSTBL AS
TDA...IF NOT SLGTLY MORE SO...PLUS FRNT PROVIDES A FOCUS/TRIGGER. W/
CD/QSTNRY FNT IN VCNTY...WL GO LIKELY POPS 2ND-4TH PDS. NO PD WL BE
TTL WASHOUT...BUT WL EMPH AFTN AND EVE CNVTN.

XTNDD THROWS A CURVE FM PREV PKG AS MRF DVLPS H5 CUTOFF LO OVR
APPALACHIA...AND LETS IT LINGER THRU DAY 5. W/ H3 JET STRK ON E SIDE
OF SYSTM...THINK THIS IS A LTL OVRDN. UKMET SHWS LTL MORE THAN WK
TROF/SFC REFLCTN IN AREA. WENT W/ A MRF WEIGHTED COMPROMISE...CLS TO
CNDN SOLN. ADDED MIX CLDS/SUN AND SCT AFTN SHRA TO SUN-TUE FCST. W/
FRNT STL IN VCNTY...INCL TSRA TO SUNDAY FCST AS WELL.  FOR DAY 6 & 7
WENT PTCLDY...AND LATER SHIFTS CAN LEAN IN APPRO DIRECTION.

ZFP/RDF BY 1945 UTC. LATER

FCSTID = 50...HTS
DCA   70  86  70  82 /  40  60  60  60
BWI   69  85  67  80 /  40  60  60  60
MRB   66  84  65  78 /  60  60  60  60
IAD   68  84  67  79 /  40  60  60  60
CHO   66  86  66  81 /  60  60  60  60
HGR   64  83  64  77 /  60  60  60  60
NHK   70  85  70  81 /  30  60  60  60

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

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 21, 3:09 PM EDT, 4 hours 41 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
309 PM EDT THU JUN 21 2001

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

0830 PM    BALTIMORE                 MD   WIND DAMAGE
06/20/01   BALTIMORE                      NUMEROUS TREES DOWN
                                          REPORTED BY PUBLIC WORKS

1030 PM    CHARLOTTESVILLE           VA   WIND DAMAGVE
06/20/01   ALBEMARLE                      NUMEROUS TREES AND
                                          POWERLINES DOWN

JLW/MM

Local storm report, Jun 21, 6:24 PM EDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
624 PM EDT THU JUN 21 2001

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

0617 PM    LAUREL                    MD   1.00 INCH HAIL
06/21/01   PRINCE GEORGES

JLW

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 20, 8:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Greene, Madison	49 min
Jun 20, 9:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Albemarle, City of Charlottesville	41 min
Jun 20, 10:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Albemarle, City of Charlottesville	49 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 2001 Every flash flood warning in 2001

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.