Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2001

Flash Flood Warning 13, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 22, 2001Monroe County, Summers County, West Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at May 22, 2001, 3:03 PM EDT for Monroe County, Summers County, West Virginia. It was in force for 117 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 22, 2001, 3:03 PM EDT (19:03 UTC)
Expired: May 22, 2001, 5:00 PM EDT
In force: 117 min
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Monroe County, WV, Summers County, WV

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 75 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:02 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, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 116 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: 133 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -62 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 624 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 133 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 167 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KRNK 221904
FFWRNK
WVC063-089-222100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
303 PM EDT TUE MAY 22 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SUMMERS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA...
  MONROE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA...

* UNTIL 500 PM EDT.

* AT 300 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
  HINTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

LOCATIONS THREATENED BY HEAVY RAIN THROUGH 500 PM EDT INCLUDE
  HINTON...
  UNION...
  PIPESTEM CREEK...
  LICK CREEK...
  INDIAN CREEK...

THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IN THE WARNED 
AREA. RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING 
IN THE ABOVE LOCATIONS AND OTHER LOW LYING AREAS.

<<CALL TO ACTION>>SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS WILL RAPIDLY FLOOD...
PuOSSIBLY WASHING OUT ROADS AND FLOODING NEARBY LOW AREAS.

.END
$$

02

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 May 22, 1:30 PM EDT, 1 hour 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 22, 1:30 PM EDT, 1 hour 33 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA
130 PM EDT TUE MAY 22 2001

UPDATED ZONES FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 274.

.RNK...
NC...NONE.
VA...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY FOR ZONES VAZ007-009>020-022>024.
WV...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY FOR ZONES WV042>045.

AMS/KK

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 22, 12:45 PM EDT, 2 hours 18 minutes before

NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059-
WVZ042>045-222200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1245 PM EDT TUE MAY 22 2001

THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING IN THE FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA AND
VIRGINIA.

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING FOR SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA...PARTS OF SOUTHWEST
VIRGINIA...AND NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...MAINLY WEST OF THE BLUE RIDGE.

A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SLOWLY ACROSS THE REGION THIS
AFTERNOON...REACHING THE PIEDMONT DURING THE EVENING. SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT. THE PRIMARY
THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS.

IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT OF DAMAGING WINDS WITH THE STRONGER
STORMS...LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IS LIKELY...ESPECIALLY IN SOUTHWEST
VIRGINIA AND SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA. BECAUSE OF THE SATURATED
GROUND FROM RAIN DURING THE PAST WEEK...FLASH FLOODING ALONG CREEKS
AND SMALL STREAMS IS POSSIBLE.

SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON. MONITOR
NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLET FOR LATER UPDATES AND
STATEMENTS.

AMS

Local storm report, May 22, 2:24 PM EDT, 39 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA
224 PM EDT TUE MAY 22 2001

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

0200 PM    RICHLANDS                 VA   WIND DAMAGE
05/22/01   TAZEWELL                       LARGE TREES IN WESTERN
                                          PART OF COUNTY.REPORTED BY
                                          LAW ENFORCEMENT

TW

Special weather statement, May 22, 2:25 PM EDT, 38 minutes before

WVZ042-221930-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
225 PM EDT TUE MAY 22 2001

A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL TRACK ACROSS MERCER COUNTY
FROM 230 PM TO 330 PM. WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE
STRONGEST STORMS...POSSIBLY DOWNING SMALL TREE LIMBS. RAINFALL FROM
THE STORMS COULD REACH ONE INCH IN 45 MINUTES...WITH PONDING OF
WATER ON ROADS AND LOW AREAS.

NOGUEIRA

Local storm report, May 22, 2:57 PM EDT, 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA
257 PM EDT TUE MAY 22 2001

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

0248 PM    ATHENS                    WV   .88 INCH HAIL
05/22/01   MERCER                         REPORTED BY SPOTTER

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 21, 8:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Greenbrier	41 min
May 22, 2:02 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Mercer	118 min
May 22, 2:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Mercer	48 min
May 22, 2:53 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Summers	67 min
May 22, 3:14 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Greenbrier	61 min
May 22, 3:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Monroe	57 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West 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.