Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 85, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 17, 2003Guilford County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this flash flood warning at Aug 17, 2003, 7:45 PM EDT for Guilford County, North Carolina. It was in force for 90 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, 7:45 PM EDT (23:45 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 2003, 9:15 PM EDT
In force
90 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Guilford County, NC

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:46 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, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 10 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 2003-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 994 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2003-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -1 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
994 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-68 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1043 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
1 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 172346
FFWRAH
NCC081-180115-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 915 PM EDT

* AT 745 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED     
  THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER GUILFORD COUNTY...
  FROM STOKESDALE TO THE PTI AIRPORT TO GREENSBORO.

* SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE FLOODING AROUND...
  STOKESDALE.
  LAKE TOWNSEND.
  GREENSBORO.

RADAR INDICATED RAINFALL RATES IN EXCESS OF 3 INCHES PER HOUR
OVER NORTHWEST GUILFORD COUNTY. THESE RATES FALLING ON NEARLY
SATURATED GROUND WILL LIKELY PRODUCE EXCESSIVE RUNOFF AND 
FLASH FLOODING. 

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. DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER
COVERS THE ROAD. 

$$

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, 6:39 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHNash81 min
Aug 17, 7:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGuilford37 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.