Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

March 18, 2002Madison County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Mar 18, 2002, 6:38 AM EST for Madison County, North 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 counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 18, 2002, 6:38 AM EST (11:38 UTC)
Expired
Mar 18, 2002, 9:30 AM EST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Madison County, NC

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:42 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 254 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2002-03-18Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2002-03-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 213 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
418 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
213 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
235 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 
WGUS52 KGSP 181138
FFWGSP
NCC115-181430-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
637 AM EST MON MAR 18 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  MADISON COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 930 AM EST

* AT 630 AM EST...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED HEAVY RAINFALL 
STEADILY INCREASING ACROSS NORTHERN MADISON COUNTY. BANDS OF HEAVY 
RAIN WERE SHOWN WELL SOUTHWEST OF MADISON COUNTY...MOVING TO THE 
NORTHEAST.

* THE LAUREL CREEK AREA...FROM BIG CREEK TO NEAR HOT SPRINGS...WILL 
BE THE MOST LIKELY LOCATION TO HAVE FLOODING THIS MORNING.  HIGHWAYS 
ALONG THE CREEKS IN THAT AREA ARE SUBJECT TO FLOODING.  OTHER PARTS 
OF THE COUNTY MAY HAVE SOME FLOODING...AND MUD AND ROCK SLIDES.

TO REPORT FLOODING HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY RELAY YOUR
REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN
GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG.

$$
JONES
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGUS72 KGSP 181241
FFSGSP
NCC115-181430-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
740 AM EST MON MAR 18 2002

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 930 AM EST FOR MADISON 
COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA...

STEADY HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES TO AFFECT THE NORTHERN PART OF MADISON 
COUNTY.  RAINFALL RATES HAVE BEEN BETWEEN 2 AND 3 TENTHS OF AN INCH 
PER HOUR FOR SEVERAL HOURS THIS MORNING.  NORMALLY...THIS WOULD NOT 
BE A RATE LIKELY TO CAUSE FLOODING.  HOWEVER...HEAVY RAIN WHICH FELL 
SUNDAY...ALONG WITH SOME FLOODING...AND ROCK AND MUD SLIDES...HAVE 
CAUSED A HIGHER RISK FOR FLOODING THIS MORNING.

RADAR SHOWED THAT THE HEAVY RAIN EXTENDED WELL INTO EAST 
TENNESSEE...WITH SEVERAL BANDS OF INTENSE RAINFALL...WITH EVEN 
HIGHER RAINFALL RATES...LIKELY TO MOVE ACROSS MADISON COUNTY THIS 
MORNING.

THE FIRE DEPARTMENT IN THE LAUREL CREEK AREA...REPORTED THROUGH THE 
MADISON COUNTY EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER...THAT THE CREEKS IN THE 
AREA WERE RUNNING AT BANKFULL.

HEAVY RAINFALL IN THE MOUNTAINS MAY LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING SEVERAL MILES
DOWNSTREAM.

LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA SOURCE FOR THE 
LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS SITUATION.

$$
JONES

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 2002Every 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.