Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 76, NWS Charleston, WV

August 12, 2003Randolph County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood warning at Aug 12, 2003, 4:04 PM EDT for Randolph County, West Virginia. It was in force for 3 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 12, 2003, 4:04 PM EDT (20:04 UTC)
Expired: Aug 12, 2003, 7:00 PM EDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Charleston, WV
Area: Whole counties

County Randolph County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 169 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:07 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

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 178 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 767 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 608 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 60 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 78 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KRLX 122005
FFWRLX
WVC083-122300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
404 PM EDT TUE AUG 12 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  RANDOLPH COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA...

* UNTIL 700 PM EDT...

* AT 357 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY
  RAIN NEAR BOWDEN...ESPECIALLY ALONG TAYLOR RUN.  RADAR ESTIMATES
  THAT 2 TO 2.5 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN IN THIS AREA IN THE PAST
  90 MINUTES.  ANOTHER INCH OF RAIN IS EXPECTED BEFORE IT TAPERS OFF.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING AREA INCLUDE BOWDEN...STUART
  RECREATION AREA...AND WEESE.

--CALL TO ACTION-- A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS
IMMINENT OR OCCURRING. IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER
GROUND IMMEDIATELY. RESIDENTS LIVING ALONG STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD
TAKE IMMEDIATE PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS SWIFTLY FLOWING WATERS OR WATERS OF UNKNOWN DEPTH BY
FOOT OR BY AUTOMOBILE. IF YOUR VEHICLE STALLS, ABANDON IT IMMEDIATELY
AND SEEK HIGHER GROUND.

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

$$

CL

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS71 KRLX 122132
FFSRLX
WVC083-122230-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
530 PM EDT TUE AUG 12 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR RANDOLPH COUNTY UNTIL 700 PM
EDT...

AT 530 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED THAT THE 
HEAVY RAINS HAVE MOVED OUT OF THE HARDEST-HIT AREAS OF NORTHERN 
RANDOLPH COUNTY...BUT RUNOFF INTO CREEKS AND STREAMS CONTINUES.

RANDOLPH COUNTY OFFICIALS REPORTED HIGH WATER ON TAYLOR RUN...NEAR 
BOWDEN AND THE BEAR HEAVEN RECREATIONAL AREA.  NO FLOODING HAS BEEN 
REPORTED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT THIS TIME.

--CALL TO ACTION-- EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH
FLOODING OF SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS...COUNTRY ROADS...AS WELL AS
FARMLAND ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS.

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

$$

CL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 12, 7:38 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Kanawha	22 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 2003 Every 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.