Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 36, NWS Blacksburg, VA

March 17, 2002Wythe County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Mar 17, 2002, 11:15 PM EST for Wythe County, Virginia. It was in force for 4 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 17, 2002, 11:15 PM EST (04:15 UTC)
Expired
Mar 18, 2002, 3:00 AM EST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Wythe County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:17 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, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 141 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 180413
FFWRNK
VAC197-180800-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1115 PM EST SUN MAR 17 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN WYTHE COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 300 AM EST.

* AT 1115 PM EST...RADAR SHOWED HEAVY RAIN...WITH EMBEDDED           
  THUNDERSTORMS MOVING OVER THE NORTHWEST PORTION OF THE COUNTY. 
  RAINFALL OF ONE AND A HALF INCHES HAS FALLEN IN THE PAST THREE     
  HOURS.

LOCATIONS THREATENED BY FLASH FLOODING THROUGH 300 AM EST INCLUDE   
   BLACKLICK...
   FAVONIA...
   AREAS ALONG REED CREEK...

HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OFF AND ON IN THIS AREA THROUGH 
EARLY MORNING. THIS WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF REED CREEK IN THE 
NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF THE COUNTY. THIS COULD ALSO LEAD TO THE 
FLOODING OF BLACK LICK AND KIMBERLIN ROADS.   

<<CALL TO ACTION>>BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER 
TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF FLASH FLOODS.

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.

.END
$$

05

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 18, 12:36 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKTazewell3 hr
Mar 18, 12:46 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKSmyth6 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.