Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2001

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 17, 2001Mercer County, West Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at May 17, 2001, 6:28 PM EDT for Mercer County, West Virginia. It was in force for 3 hr. 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 17, 2001, 6:28 PM EDT (22:28 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 2001, 9:30 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Mercer County, WV

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 85 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:28 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, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 144 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 2001-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 2001-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 146 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
448 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
146 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
224 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 KRNK 172230
FFWRNK
WVC055-180130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
628 PM EDT THU MAY 17 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLOOD WARNING FOR SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS FOR...
  MERCER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA...

* UNTIL 930 PM EDT.

* AT 624 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL 2 MILES NORTH OF 
  BLUEFIELD. THE STORM WAS PRODUCING RAIN IN EXCESS OF ONE 
  INCH PER HOUR.

LOCATIONS THREATENED BY HEAVY RAIN THROUGH 930 PM EDT INCLUDE
  PRINCETON...
  BLUEFIELD...

SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IN THE 
WARNED AREA. RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLOODING 
OF SMALL STREAMS AND URBAN AREAS OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN THIRD OF 
MERCER COUNTY.  EAST RIVER AND BLUESTONE RIVER WILL LIKELY EXCEED 
BANKFULL LEVELS. 

RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL CREEKS AND 
STREAMS...HIGHWAYS...STREETS AND UNDERPASSES.

SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS WILL RAPIDLY FLOOD...POSSIBLY WASHING OUT 
ROADS AND FLOODING NEARBY LOW AREAS.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE 
ROADWAY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED.

.END
$$

04

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 3:43 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKMercer2 hr
May 17, 6:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKMercer28 min

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.