Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 37, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 2, 2002Giles County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at May 2, 2002, 5:32 PM EDT for Giles County, 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
May 2, 2002, 5:32 PM EDT (21:32 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 2002, 8:30 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Giles County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 50 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:32 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

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 107 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 2002-05-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 317 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 2002-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 382 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
317 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-54 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
667 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
68 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
382 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
418 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KRNK 022132
FFWRNK
VAC071-030030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
530 DT THU MAY 2 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 830 PM EDT.

* AT 529 M EDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF 
MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN OVER AND WEST OF THE COUNTY. DOPPLER RAINFALL 
OF ESTIMATES OF UP TO AN INCH AND A HALF IN AN HOUR WILL LIKELY 
PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING ON SMALLER STREAMS AND CREEKS IN THE COUNTY.
  
SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IN THE 
WARNED AREA. RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH 
FLOODING ON WOLF CREEK...STONY CREEK...SINKING CREEK.

<<CALL TO ACTION>>SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS WILL RAPIDLY 
FLOOD...POSSIBLY WASHING OUT ROADS AND FLOODING NEARBY LOW AREAS.  
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE 
ROADWAY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED.
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS 
IMMINENT. NEVER ATTEMPT TO CROSS HIGH WATER IN A VEHICLE OR ON FOOT

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.

$$

04

LAT...LON 3727 8100 3717 8087 3734 8046 3746 8053

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 1:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKTazewell23 min
May 2, 1:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKMontgomery37 min
May 2, 2:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKFranklin33 min
May 2, 2:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKBedford, Pittsylvania29 min
May 2, 2:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKTazewell39 min
May 2, 2:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKTazewell3 hr
May 2, 3:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKHalifax30 min
May 2, 3:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKBland, City of Radford25 min
May 2, 3:34 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKHalifax26 min
May 2, 3:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKWythe17 min
May 2, 3:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKPulaski, City of Radford27 min
May 2, 4:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKMontgomery26 min
May 2, 4:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKTazewell41 min
May 2, 4:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKBedford, Franklin24 min
May 2, 4:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKFranklin25 min
May 2, 4:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKBland40 min
May 2, 4:45 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKFranklin, Henry15 min
May 2, 4:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKGiles27 min
May 2, 4:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKPittsylvania, City of Danville40 min
May 2, 5:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKMontgomery, Pulaski, City of Radford44 min
May 2, 5:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKHalifax46 min
May 2, 5:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKTazewell29 min
May 2, 5:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKRoanoke, City of Roanoke, City of Salem50 min
May 2, 5:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKBedford, Franklin39 min
May 2, 5:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKHalifax33 min
May 2, 6:02 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKTazewell3 hr
May 2, 6:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKPatrick49 min
May 2, 6:17 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKBland3 hr
May 2, 6:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKPittsylvania23 min
May 2, 7:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKFloyd26 min
May 2, 7:13 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKTazewell32 min
May 2, 7:30 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKMontgomery, Pulaski2 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.