Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 79, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 10, 2003Harnett County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this flash flood warning at Aug 10, 2003, 5:43 PM EDT for Harnett County, North Carolina. 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
Aug 10, 2003, 5:43 PM EDT (21:43 UTC)
Expired
Aug 10, 2003, 7:45 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Harnett County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:44 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, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 122 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 2003-08-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 627 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 2003-08-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 19 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
627 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-58 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
647 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
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 102149
FFWRAH
NCC085-102345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
543 PM EDT SUN AUG 10 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 745 PM EDT

* AT 543 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER HARNETT COUNTY.
RAINFALL AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF 2 INCHES HAVE FALLEN IN THE PAST 
COUPLE OF HOURS AND MANY SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS ARE RAPIDLY 
OVERFLOWING THEIR BANKS AROUND MAMERS AND ALONG HIGHWAY 421 IN 
SEMINOLE.

* ADDITIONAL RAIN WILL RUNOFF AND CAUSE FLOODING AROUND...
  TIMBERLAKE.
  SEMINOLE
  LILLINGTON.
  COATS.
  MAMERS.

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.

$$

16
2 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS72 KRAH 102249
FFSRAH
NCC085-110000-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
645 PM EDT SUN AUG 10 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR HARNETT COUNTY
UNTIL 745 PM...

AT 630 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...SOME CONTAINING LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL CONTINUING TO MOVE ACROSS HARNETT COUNTY.

AT 630 PM COUNTY EMERGENCY OFFICIALS REPORTED PORTIONS OF NUMEROUS
ROADS IN THE WESTERN PART OF THE COUNTY WERE CLOSED...IMPASSABLE AND 
BRIDGES WERE WASHED OUT. OFFICIALS REPORTED SPRING HILL AND 
MCDOUGAL ROADS HAD 7 TO 10 INCHES OF STANDING WATER ON THE ROADS AND 
WERE CLOSED. 3 TO 4 FEET OF WATER COVERED HIGHLAND DRIVE IN BROADWAY.

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.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF CREEKS
AND STREAMS...HIGHWAYS...STREETS AND UNDERPASSES. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR
VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. VEHICLES
CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED.

WITH THE APPROACH OF NIGHTFALL...BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AS IT WILL 
BE HARDER TO SEE HIGH WATER AND OR WATER OVER THE ROADWAYS.

$$

16
000 
WGUS72 KRAH 102350
FFSRAH
NCC085-110100-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
736 PM EDT SUN AUG 10 2003

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR HARNETT COUNTY HAS EXPIRED...

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL HAVE MOVED 
OUT OF THE COUNTY. THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING HAS EXPIRED. HOWEVER SOME 
OCCASIONAL MODERATE RAINFALL CAN BE EXPECTED WHERE ADDITIONAL 
RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF ONE HALF TO THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH ARE 
POSSIBLE.

TWO TO FOUR INCHES OF RAIN WERE WIDESPREAD OVER THE WESTERN PART OF 
THE COUNTY WITH 1 TO 3 INCHES FELL IN THE EAST DURING THE AFTERNOON
INTO EARLY THIS EVENING. NUMEROUS ROAD CLOSINGS AND OR IMPASSABLE 
WERE REPORTED IN THE WESTERN HALF OF THE COUNTY AND WILL CONTINUE
INTO THE NIGHT. RESIDUAL WATER FROM THE EARLIER DOWNPOURS WILL MAKE 
DRIVING HAZARDOUS ACROSS THE COUNTY...ESPECIALLY IN THE WEST AS 
WATER ON THE ROAD WILL BE DIFFICULT TO SEE IN THE DARK AND A NUMBER 
OF BRIDGES HAVE BEEN WASHED OUT. HEED THE OFFICIAL BARRICADES. TURN 
AROUND AND FIND ALTERNATE ROUTES.


$$

16

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 9, 8:16 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHOrange119 min
Aug 9, 9:42 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHDurham93 min
Aug 9, 9:56 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHDavidson94 min
Aug 10, 12:17 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHRandolph118 min
Aug 10, 12:35 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHMontgomery100 min
Aug 10, 2:15 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHMontgomery, Randolph3 hr
Aug 10, 11:50 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHWake115 min
Aug 10, 5:33 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHMoore87 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.