Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 24, NWS Charleston, WV

July 3, 2002McDowell County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Jul 3, 2002, 6:34 PM EDT for McDowell 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
Jul 3, 2002, 6:34 PM EDT (22:34 UTC)
Expired
Jul 3, 2002, 9:30 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County McDowell County, WV

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 192 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 2002-07-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1126 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 2002-07-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 31 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1126 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-89 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
894 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
53 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 KRLX 032234
FFWRLX
WVC047-040130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
634 PM EDT WED JUL 3 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  MCDOWELL COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA...

* UNTIL 930 PM EDT...

* AT 626 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY
  RAIN JUST EAST OF WAR...OR ABOUT 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WELCH...     
  WITH A MOVEMENT NEARLY STATIONARY.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING AREA INCLUDE GARY...ELBERT...        
  SKYGUSTY...AND CUCUMBER.

STREAMS AND CREEKS CONTINUE TO HAVE DEBRIS IN THEM THIS WILL CAUSE 
FLASH FLOODING AT A FASTER RATE.  STREAMS SUCH AS BIG CREEK...RIGHT 
AND LEFT FORK...AND THE LONG BRANCH HAVE BEEN HIT THE HARDEST.  
RAINFALL AMOUNTS COULD EASILY TOP TWO INCHES WHICH IS ENOUGH TO 
CAUSE FLASH FLOODING.  

--CALL TO ACTION-- STAY TUNED TO WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA FOR ANY
FURTHER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.

PLEASE REPORT HIGH WATER...HAIL OR STRONG WINDS TO THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE BY CALLING TOLL FREE...877-633-6772...WHEN YOU CAN DO
SO SAFELY.
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGUS71 KRLX 040034
FFSRLX
WVC047-040130-
FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
835 PM EDT WED JUL 3 2002

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR MCDOWELL COUNTY CONTINUES UNTIL 930 PM...

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO FIRE UP IN THE WARM AND HUMID 
ATMOSPHERE.  DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES OVER TWO INCHES OF RAIN HAS 
FALLEN ACROSS EASTERN MCDOWELL COUNTY...WHILE AMOUNTS LOWER TO 
AROUND AN INCH OVER WESTERN SECTIONS.  THE BULK OF MODERATE TO HEAVY 
RAIN HAS SHIFTED TO THE WEST...HOWEVER MORE IS DEVELOPING ACROSS 
WYOMING COUNTY AND CURRENT STORM MOTION HAS THEM AIMING FOR MCDOWELL 
COUNTY.  ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS FROM THESE CELLS SHOULD BE LESS 
THAN A HALF AN INCH...WITH ISOLATED HIGHER AMOUNTS.  

NO REPORTS OF FLOODING OTHER THAN NORMAL LOW SPOTS AND POOR DRAINAGE 
AREAS HAS BEEN RECEIVED.  

--- CALL TO ACTION --- 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 IMMEDIATELY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 2, 8:15 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXRandolph3 hr
Jul 3, 6:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXMcDowell39 min
Jul 3, 7:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXWyoming32 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 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.