Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 21, NWS Wakefield, VA

August 16, 2003Cumberland County, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 16, 2003, 3:34 PM EDT for Cumberland County, Virginia. It was in force for 116 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 2003, 3:34 PM EDT (19:34 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 2003, 5:30 PM EDT
In force
116 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Cumberland County, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 127 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:34 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, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 113 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 2003-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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 2003-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -64 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2949 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-41 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 KAKQ 161935
FFWAKQ
VAC049-162135-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
334 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WAKEFIELD HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 530 PM EDT

* AT 328 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL NEAR CUMBERLAND...MOVING EAST 
  AT 5 MPH. DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED 2 TO 3 INCHES IN THE LAST HOUR.

* SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IN THE
  WARNED AREA. RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH
  FLOODING TO OCCUR. SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL EXPERIENCE FLASH
  FLOODING INCLUDE...CUMBERLAND...SUNNYSIDE AND GUINEA MILLS.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS
SAFELY. IT ONLY TAKES A FEW INCHES OF SWIFTLY FLOWING WATER TO CARRY
VEHICLES. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED. MOVE
TO HIGHER GROUND.

LAT...LON 3757 7840 3739 7840 3737 7815 3761 7805
$$

REILLY
2 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS71 KAKQ 162027
FFSAKQ
VAC049-162130-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
425 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 530 PM EDT FOR CUMBERLAND 
COUNTY...

LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS AND PUBLIC REPORTED HIGH WATER ON 
NUMEROUS ROADWAYS...WITH A FOOT OF WATER OVER ROUTE 60 NEAR 
CUMBERLAND. ALTHOUGH THE STORM APPEARS TO BE WEAKENING...ADDITIONAL 
FLOODING IS POSSIBLE IN THE WARNED AREA...MAINLY OVER EXTREME 
SOUTHERN CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED. MOVE TO
HIGHER GROUND.

$$

REILLY
&&
LAT...LON 3736 7842 3747 7835 3746 7825 3743 7817
          3736 7824 3730 7833 3730 7839
000 
WGUS71 KAKQ 162116
FFSAKQ
VAC049-162130-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
515 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR CUMBERLAND COUNTY HAS BEEN CANCELLED...

WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED THAT THE STORMS WHICH PRODUCED 
FLOODING IN THE COUNTY...HAD WEAKENED AND MOVED OUT OF THE COUNTY. 
THEREFORE...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED. ALTHOUGH 
SOME HIGH WATER REMAINS ON ROUTES 60 AND 45 NEAR AND SOUTH OF 
CUMBERLAND...NO ADDITIONAL FLOODING IS EXPECTED...AND THE WATERS ARE 
EXPECTED TO RECEDE. MORE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BRING RAIN TO THE 
COUNTY LATER THIS EVENING.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED. MOVE TO
HIGHER GROUND.

$$


&&
LAT...LON 3736 7842 3747 7835 3746 7825 3743 7817
          3736 7824 3730 7833 3730 7839

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 4:38 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningAKQLouisa97 min
Aug 16, 5:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQLouisa41 min
Aug 16, 6:02 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ58 min
Aug 16, 6:43 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ32 min
Aug 16, 7:15 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ30 min
Aug 16, 7:15 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQNorthumberland20 min
Aug 16, 7:20 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ60 min
Aug 16, 7:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQAccomack29 min
Aug 16, 7:45 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ60 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 2003Every flash flood warning in 2003

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.