Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 48, NWS Raleigh, NC

July 31, 2003Montgomery County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this flash flood warning at Jul 31, 2003, 10:21 PM EDT for Montgomery County, North Carolina. It was in force for 84 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jul 31, 2003, 10:21 PM EDT (02:21 UTC)
Expired: Jul 31, 2003, 11:45 PM EDT
In force: 84 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Montgomery County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 133 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:21 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 2.4 hours before the alert went out and 83 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: 1432 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 548 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 76 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 94 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 
WGUS52 KRAH 010221
FFWRAH
NCC123-010345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1021 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  MONTGOMERY COUNTY IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 1145 PM EDT

* AT 1021 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER SOUTHEASTERN MONTGOMERY
  COUNTY.

* SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE FLOODING AROUND...
  TROY.

MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. NEVER DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO
AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER IS USUALLY DEEPER
THAN IT APPEARS. JUST ONE FOOT OF FLOWING WATER IS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO
SWEEP MOST VEHICLES OFF THE ROAD. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER
SHOULD BE ABANDONED.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT
QUICKLY. MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY
IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

$$

RFG

2 follow-up statements

000 
WGUS72 KRAH 010241
FFSRAH
NCC123-010345-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1036 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEASTERN 
MONTGOMERY COUNTY UNTIL 1145 PM...

AT 1027 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED MODERATE TO LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN BEGINNING 
TO DIMINISH AND MOVE NORTHEAST FROM SOUTHEASTERN MONTGOMERY COUNTY.  
HOWEVER...FLASH FLOODING IS LIKELY FROM INDICATED RAINFALL OF 2 TO 3 
AND A HALF INCHES THE PAST 2 TO 3 HOURS IN CENTRAL SOUTHEASTERN 
MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

LOCATIONS THREATENED WITH FLASH FLOODING INCLUDE...PEKIN... THICKETY 
CREEK AND ALONG HIGHWAY 731 IN SOUTHERN MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.
IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING FLOODING OR LIVE IN A FLOOD PRONE AREA MOVE
TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE 
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. 

$$

RFG

000 
WGUS72 KRAH 010352
FFSRAH
NCC123-010415-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1147 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2003

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING ISSUED EARLIER FOR SOUTHEASTERN MONTGOMERY 
COUNTY HAS NOW EXPIRED.  HOWEVER...RESIDUAL FLOODING ALONG CREEKS 
AND ON HIGHWAYS MAY STILL BE ONGOING TONIGHT AND RESIDENTS AND 
MOTORISTS SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION. 

AREAS HAVING THE MOST RAIN EARLIER TONIGHT INCLUDED THE TOWN OF 
PEKIN AND ALONG THICKETY CREEK AND HIGHWAY 731 IN THE CENTRAL 
SOUTHERN PORTION OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.  THE TOWN OF CHIP REPORTED 
ABOUT 2.2 INCHES OF RAIN.  RADAR ESTIMATES SHOWED 3 TO 4 INCHES 
POSSIBLY HAVING OCCURRED IN LOCALIZED AREAS. 

MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. NEVER DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO
AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING 
WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT
QUICKLY. MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. 
$$

RFG

The office that day

Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 1, 7:29 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Wake	91 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 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.