Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 5, NWS Blacksburg, VA

April 17, 2002Amherst County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Apr 17, 2002, 6:07 PM EDT for Amherst 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
Apr 17, 2002, 6:07 PM EDT (22:07 UTC)
Expired
Apr 17, 2002, 9:00 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Amherst County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:07 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, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 55 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 2002-04-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 19 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 2002-04-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -40 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
19 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-157 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1469 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-10 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 
WGUS51 KRNK 172207
FFWRNK
VAC009-180100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
605 PM EDT WED APR 17 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  AMHERST COUNTY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 900 PM EDT.

* AT 605 PM EDT...RADAR INDICATED A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH 
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL OVER NORTHERN AMHERST COUNTY...MOVING EAST AT 5 
MPH.  SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS WILL RISE RAPIDLY IN RESPONSE TO THE 
RAIN AS THEY EMPTY INTO THE BUFFALO RIVER.  PEOPLE ALONG THESE 
STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY RISING WATER.

<<CALL TO ACTION>>SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS CAN RAPIDLY FLOOD...
POSSIBLY WASHING OUT ROADS AND FLOODING NEARBY LOW AREAS.

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
$$
08

08

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 17, 1:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKPatrick35 min
Apr 17, 3:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKFranklin47 min
Apr 17, 5:13 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKGrayson3 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.