Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 20, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 27, 2002Harnett County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this flash flood warning at Aug 27, 2002, 6:56 PM EDT for Harnett County, North Carolina. 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
Aug 27, 2002, 6:56 PM EDT (22:56 UTC)
Expired
Aug 27, 2002, 9:00 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Harnett County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:55 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 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 122 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 12:00Z on 2002-08-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 242 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 2002-08-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 39 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
242 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
634 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS52 KRAH 272256
FFWRAH
NCC085-280100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
654 PM EDT TUE AUG 27 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  HARNETT COUNTY IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 900 PM EDT

* AT 654 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER THE WARNED AREA.

* SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAINFALL OVER 
THE SOUTH HALF OF HARNETT COUNTY ESPECIALLY SOUTH OF 
LILLINGTON...AND APPROACHING ERWIN DUNN. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF UP TO 
THREE INCHES MAY HAVE FALLEN SINCE 530 PM.  EXPECT SIGNIFICANT RISES 
ALONG THE UPPER LITTLE RIVER AND THE LOWER LITTLE RIVER.

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

$$

LAT...LON 3549 7866 3528 7858 3522 7895 3544 7897

12
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGUS72 KRAH 280016
FFSRAH
NCC085-280100-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
811 PM EDT TUE AUG 27 2002

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR HARNETT COUNTY 
UNTIL 9 PM EDT...


THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL WAS EXITING THE EASTERN SECTIONS OF HARNETT 
COUNTY AT 810 PM.  THE HARNETT COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE REPORTED THAT A 
FEW STREETS IN THE CITY OF DUNN WERE IMPASSABLE DUE TO HIGH WATER.  
MOTORISTS IN THE EAST AND SOUTH SECTIONS OF HARNETT COUNTY NEED TO 
AVOID AREAS KNOWN TO FLOOD DURING HEAVY RAIN EVENTS. 

WHILE THE HEAVY RAIN HAS ABATED SOME SINCE 745 PM...THERE IS THE 
POTENTIAL FOR MORE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS HARNETT COUNTY 
THROUGH THE REST OF THE EVENING HOURS AND POSSIBLY WELL INTO THE 
NIGHT.  THUS...ADDITIONAL FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS MAY NEED TO BE 
ISSUED.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT. MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR OTHER LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT. TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

$$

12

The office that day

Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 27, 10:41 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHHalifax, Nash3 hr

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.