Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 8, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 2, 2002Mercer County, West Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at May 2, 2002, 4:28 PM EDT for Mercer 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
May 2, 2002, 4:28 PM EDT (20:28 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 2002, 7:30 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Mercer County, WV

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 85 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:28 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, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 144 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 022028
FFWRNK
WVC055-022330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
428 PM EDT THU MAY 2 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  MERCER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 730 PM EDT.

* AT 428 PM EDT...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL WERE MOVING 
  BACK INTO MERCER COUNTY. THESE STORMS WILL BRING AN ADDITIONAL     
  INCH OF RAIN TO MANY LOCATIONS...AND ISOLATED 2 INCH AMOUNTS ARE   
  POSSIBLE. THIS MAY CAUSE FLASH FLOODING ON CREEKS AND SMALL        
  STREAMS.

LOCATIONS THREATENED BY HEAVY RAIN THROUGH 730 PM EDT INCLUDE
  PRINCETON...
  CAMP CREEK...
  SPNAISHBURG...

<<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.

$$

06

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 1:20 AM EDTTornado WarningRNKSummers25 min
May 2, 1:43 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKMonroe32 min
May 2, 1:12 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKMercer3 hr
May 2, 6:41 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKMonroe3 hr
May 2, 7:30 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKMercer2 hr

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.