Alert archive / South Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 12, NWS Charleston, SC

October 10, 2002Charleston County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this flash flood warning at Oct 10, 2002, 9:26 PM EDT for Charleston County, South Carolina. 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 outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Oct 10, 2002, 9:26 PM EDT (01:26 UTC)
Expired: Oct 11, 2002, 12:30 AM EDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Charleston, SC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Charleston County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 75 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:27 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

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 44 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: 2149 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 467 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 77 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 118 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.6
Supercell composite: 4.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS52 KCHS 110126
FFWCHS
SCC019-110430-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
925 PM EDT THU OCT 10 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHWESTERN CHARLESTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA.

* UNTIL 1230 AM EDT.

* AT 925 PM EDT...RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAIN OCCURRING FROM 
  EDISTO ISLAND SOUTH TO 10 MILES OFFSHORE OF EDISTO BEACH. THE  
  THE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING THE FLOODING ARE MOVING NORTH AT 
  15 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE... EDISTO ISLAND...KIAWAH ISLAND...
  ROCKVILLE...SEABROOK ISLAND AND YONGES ISLAND.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THESE STORMS WILL CAUSE RAPID FLOODING OF
STREETS...HIGHWAYS AND UNDERPASSES AS WELL AS OTHER DRAINAGE AREAS
AND LOW-LYING SPOTS. RADAR HAS ESTIMATED 3 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN
IN THE PAST 2 HOURS AND AN ADDITIONAL 3 INCHES IS POSSIBLE IN PRIOR
TO MIDNIGHT.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS
SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY
FOR HIGHER GROUND. MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.

LAT...LON 3247 8033 3251 8022 3265 8000 3271 8039

$$

24

2 follow-up statements

000 
WGUS72 KCHS 110327
FFSCHS
SCC019-110345-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
1125 PM EDT THU OCT 10 2002

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...

SOUTHWEST CHARLESTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA...

REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1230 AM EDT.

AT 1125 PM EDT...RADAR INDICATED THAT THE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING
HEAVY RAIN CONTINUE AROUND JACKSONBORO AND ADAMS RUN. RAINS HAVE
DIMINISHED AROUND EDISTO BEACH WHERE RADAR INDICATED 6 TO 8 INCHES
OF RAIN SINCE 8 PM.

MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE WHERE
WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

$$

24

000 
WGUS72 KCHS 110430
FFSCHS
SCC019-110445-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
1230 AM EDT FRI OCT 11 2002

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...

SOUTHWEST CHARLESTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA...

HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE.

HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED ACROSS THE WARNED AREA AND THE THREAT OF
FLOODING HAS DIMINISHED. THUS THE WARNING HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

$$

24

The office that day

Everything else NWS Charleston, SC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 10, 8:48 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	CHS		42 min
Oct 10, 9:33 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	CHS		57 min
Oct 10, 9:55 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CHS	Charleston	50 min
Oct 11, 3:05 AM EDT	Special Marine Warning	CHS		55 min
Oct 11, 6:25 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	CHS	Colleton	35 min
Oct 11, 10:43 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	CHS	Berkeley	2 hr
Oct 11, 11:00 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	CHS	Berkeley, Charleston	2 hr
Oct 11, 11:42 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Berkeley	63 min
Oct 11, 12:59 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	CHS	Berkeley	3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in South Carolina, 2002 Every flash flood warning in 2002

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.