Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 70, NWS Charleston, WV

August 11, 2003Ritchie County, Wirt County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Aug 11, 2003, 12:19 PM EDT for Ritchie County, Wirt County, West Virginia. It was in force for 56 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 11, 2003, 12:19 PM EDT (16:19 UTC)
Expired
Aug 11, 2003, 1:15 PM EDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

Counties Ritchie County, WV, Wirt County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:23 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 174 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2003-08-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 303 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2003-08-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -6 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
303 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
594 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
19 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 
WGUS51 KRLX 111623
FFWRLX
WVC085-105-111715-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
1219 PM EDT MON AUG 11 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  RITCHIE COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA...
  EASTERN WIRT COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA...

* UNTIL 115 PM EDT...

* AT 1213 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED VERY
  HEAVY RAIN OVER NORTHEASTERN WIRT COUNTY...OR ABOUT 14 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF HARRISVILLE.  THE AREA OF HEAVY RAIN WAS NEARLY
  STATIONARY.


--CALL TO ACTION-- EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH 
FLOODING OF SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS...AND HIGHWAYS. 
ADDITIONALLY...COUNTRY ROADS AND FARMLANDS ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS 
AND STREAMS AND OTHER LOW LYING AREAS ARE SUBJECT TO FLASH FLOODING.

PLEASE REPORT HIGH WATER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY CALLING
TOLL FREE...877-633-6772...WHEN YOU CAN DO SO SAFELY.

$$
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGUS71 KRLX 111724
FFSRLX
WVC085-105-111815-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
122 PM EDT MON AUG 11 2003

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR RITCHIE AND EASTERN WIRT COUNTIES HAS 
BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE...

HEAVY RAIN FELL EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS SOUTHERN RITCHIE 
COUNTY AND NORTHERN WIRT COUNTY.  SOME AREAS HIT THE HARDEST INCLUDE 
THE HUGHES RIVER WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA NEAR CISCO AND GIRTA.

A RADAR ESTIMATED 2 INCHES HAVE FALLEN ACROSS THIS AREA.  AS A 
RESULT...PONDING OF LOW LYING AREAS MAY STILL BE POSSIBLE.

--CALL TO ACTION-- STAY TUNED TO WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA FOR THE
LATEST SEVERE WEATHER INFORMATION.

PLEASE REPORT HIGH WATER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY CALLING
TOLL FREE...877-633-6772...WHEN YOU CAN DO SO SAFELY.

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 11, 1:50 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXCalhoun85 min
Aug 11, 3:08 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXTyler67 min
Aug 11, 6:49 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXRandolph56 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 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.