Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2001

Flash Flood Warning 39, NWS Blacksburg, VA

July 8, 2001Mercer County, West Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 8, 2001, 12:57 PM EDT for Mercer County, West Virginia. It was in force for 2 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
Jul 8, 2001, 12:57 PM EDT (16:57 UTC)
Expired
Jul 8, 2001, 3:00 PM EDT
In force
2 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 16:59 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, 5.0 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 2001-07-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 221 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 2001-07-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 242 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
221 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-140 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
689 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
242 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
225 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KRNK 081656
FFWRNK
WVC055-081900-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1257 PM EDT SUN JUL 8 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS EXTENDED THE

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN AND WESTERN MERCER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 300 PM EDT.

* AT 1255 PM EDT...LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED          
  CONTINUED FLOODING ALONG MANY CREEKS AND STREAMS ACROSS SOUTHERN   
  MERCER COUNTY. THE DOWNTOWN AREA OF BLUEFIELD WAS ALSO FLOODED     
  WITH EVACUATIONS ONGOING. THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL SHOULD BEGIN TO    
  TAPER OFF BY 2:00 PM...HOWEVER RUNOFF FROM EARLIER HEAVY RAIN
  WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE MORE FLOODING THIS AFTERNOON.

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

.END
$$

10

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 8, 8:27 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKGreenbrier, Monroe48 min
Jul 8, 9:29 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKMercer, Summers106 min
Jul 8, 11:03 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKMercer117 min
Jul 8, 5:53 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKMercer, Summers6 hr

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.