Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 49, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 1, 2003Wake County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this flash flood warning at Aug 1, 2003, 7:29 PM EDT for Wake County, North Carolina. It was in force for 91 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
Aug 1, 2003, 7:29 PM EDT (23:29 UTC)
Expired
Aug 1, 2003, 9:00 PM EDT
In force
91 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Wake County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 20 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:29 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 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 117 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2003-08-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 769 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2003-08-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 31 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
769 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
476 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
55 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS52 KRAH 012330
FFWRAH
NCC183-020100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
729 PM EDT FRI AUG 1 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN WAKE COUNTY IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 900 PM EDT

* AT 729 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER EASTERN WAKE COUNTY.  RADAR 
ESTIMATES SHOW OVER 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN OVER PARTS OF 
EASTERN WAKE COUNTY...ESPECIALLY BETWEEN THE TOWNS OF WENDELL AND 
GARNER ALONG HIGHWAY 70.

* THUNDERSTORMS ARE CONTINUOUSLY REDEVELOPING AROUND...
  WENDELL.
  NEW HOPE.
  KNIGHTDALE.
  GARNER.

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.

$$

RFG
2 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS72 KRAH 020002
FFSRAH
NCC183-020100-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
757 PM EDT FRI AUG 1 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEASTERN WAKE 
COUNTY THROUGH 900 PM THIS EVENING...

AT 750 PM EDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUOUSLY 
MOVING ACROSS SOUTHEASTERN WAKE COUNTY.

LOCATIONS THREATENED WITH FLASH FLOODING INCLUDE...KNIGHTDALE... 
GARNER... SHOTWELL...TO WENDELL.

WEATHER RADAR ESTIMATES THAT RAINFALL OF THREE INCHES OR MORE HAS 
FALLEN IN SOUTHEASTERN WAKE COUNTY SINCE 500 PM.  LOCAL AMOUNTS UP 
TO 5 OR 6 INCHES MAY HAVE FALLEN IN PARTS OF THE WARNING AREA.  THIS 
IS LIKELY LEADING TO FLASH FLOODING ON AREA CREEKS AND STREAMS AND 
EXTENSIVE HIGHWAY FLOODING.  

NEVER ALLOW CHILDREN TO PLAY NEAR STORM DRAINS OR NEAR FLOODED CREEKS
AND STREAMS. EXCESSIVE RUNOFF WILL CREATE RAPIDLY FLOWING WATER THAT 
CAN EASILY SWEEP A CHILD DOWNSTREAM. 

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

$$

RFG
000 
WGUS72 KRAH 020035
FFSRAH
NCC183-020100-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
830 PM EDT FRI AUG 1 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEASTERN WAKE 
COUNTY THROUGH 900 PM THIS EVENING...

AT 825 PM EDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUOUSLY 
MOVING OVER SOUTHEASTERN WAKE COUNTY.  ANOTHER SURGE OF SHOWERS AND 
THUNDERSTORMS WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IS LIKELY TO MOVE IN FROM THE 
SOUTHWEST AROUND 900 PM.  THIS MAY REQUIRE THAT THE FLASH FLOOD 
WARNING BE EXTENDED LATER INTO THE NIGHT.

WEATHER RADAR AND SPOTTER OBSERVATIONS INDICATE OVER THREE INCHES OF 
RAIN HAS FALLEN IN SOUTHEASTERN WAKE COUNTY THIS EVENING.  LOCALLY 
HEAVIER AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF 6 INCHES MAY HAVE FALLEN... 
PARTICULARLY IN AN AREA NEAR THE NEUSE RIVER AND THE COMMUNITY OF 
SHOTWELL.

LOCATIONS THREATENED WITH FLASH FLOODING INCLUDE...KNIGHTDALE... 
GARNER...SHOTWELL TO WENDELL.

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. 

$$

RFG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 31, 10:21 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHMontgomery84 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 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.