Alert archive / Ohio / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Cleveland, OH

May 7, 2003Richland County, Ohio

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this flash flood warning at May 7, 2003, 10:23 PM EDT for Richland County, Ohio. It was in force for 2 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 7, 2003, 10:23 PM EDT (02:23 UTC)
Expired: May 8, 2003, 12:30 AM EDT
In force: 2 hr
Issued by: NWS Cleveland, OH
Area: Whole counties

County Richland County, OH

The radar

The Cleveland radar (KCLE), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:27 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

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 00:00Z, 2.4 hours before the alert went out and 184 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 413 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -50 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 913 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 83 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 117 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KCLE 080228
FFWCLE
OHC139-080430-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
1023 PM EDT WED MAY 7 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  RICHLAND COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL OHIO...

* UNTIL 1230 AM EDT

* AT 1021 PM EDT A TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTED FLOODING OF BELL 
ROAD NEAR LEXINGTON DUE TO A CREEK WHICH HAS SWOLLEN OVER ITS BANKS 
FROM RAINFALL EARLIER THIS EVENING.  FLOODING HAS ALSO BEEN OBSERVED 
IN SEVERAL OTHER LOCATIONS ACROSS SOUTHERN RICHLAND COUNTY.  RADAR 
CONTINUED TO SHOW THUNDERSTORMS IN PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN RICHLAND 
COUNTY WHICH WILL CONTINUE THE THREAT OF FLOODING.  

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE...
  BELLVILLE
  LEXINGTON

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. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT. MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR OTHER LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT. TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

$$

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS71 KCLE 080433
FFSCLE
OHC139-080615-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
1230 AM EDT THU MAY 8 2003

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR RICHLAND COUNTY HAS EXPIRED.

RADAR ESTIMATES INDICATE UP TO 6 INCHES OF RAIN HAVE FALLEN ACROSS 
THE SOUTHERN HALF OF RICHLAND COUNTY WEDNESDAY EVENING WITH THE 
HEAVIEST AMOUNTS NEAR LEXINGTON. 

WIDESPREAD FLOODING OF ROADS AND STREAMS HAD BEEN REPORTED IN THE 
SOUTHERN HALF OF THE COUNTY EARLIER IN THE EVENING BUT WITH THE 
STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS NOW OUT OF THE AREA...THE WATER HAS BEGUN TO 
RECEDE.  

RESIDENTS LIVING IN LOW LYING AREAS OR NEAR STREAMS NEED TO REMAIN 
ALERT TO WATER LEVELS AND MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IF FLOODING IS 
OBSERVED OR A WARNING IS ISSUED.

ALSO MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE ACROSS FLOODED ROADS AS THE WATER 
MAY BE DEEPER THAN YOU THINK.

$$
TK

The office that day

Everything else NWS Cleveland, OH issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 7, 8:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Morrow	41 min
May 7, 9:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Richland	30 min
May 7, 9:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Knox	43 min
May 7, 10:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Holmes	33 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Ohio, 2003 Every 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.