Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 84, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 17, 2003Nash County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this flash flood warning at Aug 17, 2003, 6:39 PM EDT for Nash County, North Carolina. It was in force for 81 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 17, 2003, 6:39 PM EDT (22:39 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 2003, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
81 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Nash County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:41 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

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 166 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2003-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1674 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2003-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 65 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
1674 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
761 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
65 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
106 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 172239
FFWRAH
NCC127-180000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
639 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN NASH COUNTY IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 800 PM EDT

* AT 637 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER NORTHERN NASH COUNTY
  FROM CASTALIA TO RED OAK TO ROCKY MOUNT.

* THUNDERSTORMS ARE CONTINUOUSLY REDEVELOPING AND MOVING SOUTHEAST   
  AT 15 MPH. LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE... 
  RED OAK.
  NASHVILLE.
  DORTCHES.
  CASTALIA.

RADAR INDICATED THAT 2 TO 2.5 INCHES OF RAIN HAS ALREADY FALLEN
FROM NEAR CASTALIA TO RED OAK. RAINFALL RATES IN EXCESS OF 2 INCHES
PER HOUR WILL PRODUCE EXCESSIVE RUNOFF AS THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE
TO TRAIN OVER THE SAME 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.

$$

BADGETT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 17, 5:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHNash31 min
Aug 17, 6:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHNash28 min
Aug 17, 7:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGuilford37 min
Aug 17, 7:45 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHGuilford90 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.