Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2001

Flash Flood Warning 45, NWS Baltimore/Washington

August 11, 2001Grant County, West Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this flash flood warning at Aug 11, 2001, 10:10 PM EDT for Grant County, West Virginia. It was in force for 110 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
Aug 11, 2001, 10:10 PM EDT (02:10 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 2001, 12:00 AM EDT
In force
110 min
Issued by
NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Grant County, WV

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 162 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 2001-08-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 5 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 2001-08-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 12 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
5 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1770 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
28 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 120212
FFWLWX
WVC023-120415-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON
1010 PM EDT SAT AUG 11 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  GRANT COUNTY IN EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 1200 AM EDT

* AT 1005 PM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A         
  THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL OVER SOUTHWEST GRANT
  COUNTY NEAREST THE TOWN OF STREBY. THE THUNDERSTORM HAS BEEN
  STATIONARY OVER THE SAME AREA SINCE BEFORE 9 PM.

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

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. QUICKLY
MOVE OUT OF AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

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.

LAT...LON 3907 7943 3894 7926 3919 7905 3921 7920

$$
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 Aug 11, 8:25 PM EDT, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 11, 8:25 PM EDT, 1 hour 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
825 PM EDT SAT AUG 11 2001

SHOWERS ARE WDSPRD AND ONGOING...BUT DMSHG IN INTNSTY FOR THE MOST
PART AND LESSENING THREAT FOR ADNL FLOODING...LAST OF THE FFW
ABT TO EXPIRE AT 845 PM AND UNLKLY TO REISSUE ANYWHERE IF OVRALL
WKNG TREND CONTS. ATTN IN SHORT TERM HAS SHFTD TO THE LN WITH BOWING
STRUCTURE LIFTG NNEWD THRU THE NRN NECK OF VA ACRS THE LWR TIDAL
POTOMAC AND BAY INTO THE SRN TIP LWR SRN MD WHERE WRNGS STILL IN
EFFECT.

18Z ETA SEEMED TO HV A HNDL ON DETAILS AND SUGGESTED THE NRN NECK
ACTVTY AIDED BY DBL STRUCTURE VORTMAX LIFTG NWD OVRNGT AND
MAINTAINS A SHWR THREAT THRU THE NGT SPCLY ERN SXNS. THIS IS
SUPPORTED BY OBSERVED SFC DATA SHOWG AN ASSOCD MESOLOW OVR SERN VA
AND BY SATL AND RADAR TRENDS. THUS WILL KEEP SHWRS IN UPDATE BUT
INDCT A CONTG DMSHG TREND AS NIGHT PROGRESSES.

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

JLW

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 11, 4:10 PM EDT, 6 hours before
DCZ001-MDZ004>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042-
050>057-WVZ048-054-055-112300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON
410 PM EDT SAT AUG 11 2001

...NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WITH TORRENTIAL RAINS...

AT 410 PM EDT DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED NUMEROUS SLOW MOVING STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS OVER A WIDE AREA OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL VIRGINIA AND
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MARYLAND. MANY OF THE STORMS WERE CONCENTRATED
IN AN AREA FROM HOWARD AND MONTGOMERY COUNTIES SOUTH ACROSS THE
DISTRICT PRINCE-GEORGES CHARLES FAIRFAX PRINCE-WILLIAM FAUQUIER
COUNTIES AND THROUGH THE CENTRAL PIEDMONT COUNTIES OF MADISON ORANGE
AND ALBEMARLE.

THE GENERAL MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS WAS A SLOW DRIFT TOWARD THE
NORTHEAST BUT MANY WERE SHOWING ERRATIC MOVEMENT OR WERE NEARLY
STATIONARY. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THESE IS LOCALLY VERY HEAVY
RAINS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING RAINFALL RATES OF 2 TO 3 INCHES PER HOUR.
LOCALIZED FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS CREEKS AND PONDING OF WATER ON
ROADWAYS UNDERPASSES AND OTHER LOW LYING AREAS IS A DISTINCT
POSSIBILTY INTO THIS EVENING UNTIL AT LEAST 6 TO 8 PM.

RESIDENTS IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR HEAVY RAINS IN
THEIR AREA AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK HIGHER GROUND SHOULD FLOODING BE
OBSERVED. MOTORISTS SHOULD UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE ATTEMPT TO DRIVE
INTO FLOOD WATERS.

LOCALLY GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL ARE ALSO POSSIBLE IN THE STRONGER
THUNDERSTORMS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL
MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER
INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/ER/LWX

JLW

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 2001Every 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.