Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Blacksburg, VA

March 18, 2002Smyth County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Mar 18, 2002, 12:46 AM EST for Smyth County, Virginia. It was in force for 6 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, 12:46 AM EST (05:46 UTC)
Expired
Mar 18, 2002, 6:45 AM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Smyth County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:47 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, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 169 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°0°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 
WGUS51 KRNK 180546
FFWRNK
VAC173-181145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1242 AM EST MON MAR 18 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SMYTH COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 645 AM EST.

* AT 1240 AM EST...RADAR INDICATED HEAVY RAIN...WITH EMBEDDED        
  THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS SMYTH COUNTY.

LOCATIONS THREATENED BY HEAVY RAIN THROUGH 645 AM EST INCLUDE
  MARION...
  SALTVILLE...

SLOW MOVING STORMS ARE PRODUCING HEAVY RAINFALL IN THE WARNED AREA. 
RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING IN 
SMYTH COUNTY NEAR SALTVILLE.

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

RELAY YOUR REPORTS OF FLOODING TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY
CALLING TOLL FREE 1 8 6 6 2 1 5 4 3 2 4.

$$

12

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 17, 11:15 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKWythe4 hr
Mar 18, 12:36 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKTazewell3 hr
Mar 18, 3:04 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKTazewell, Wythe6 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.