Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 40, NWS Blacksburg, VA

July 13, 2003Henry County, City of Martinsville, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 13, 2003, 11:10 PM EDT for Henry County, City of Martinsville, 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 outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jul 13, 2003, 11:10 PM EDT (03:10 UTC)
Expired: Jul 14, 2003, 2:15 AM EDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties City of Martinsville, VA, Henry County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:12 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 00:00Z, 3.2 hours before the alert went out and 64 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: 973 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 824 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 96 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 142 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.8
Supercell composite: 9.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KRNK 140311
FFWRNK
VAC089-690-140615-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1110 PM EDT SUN JUL 13 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  MARTINSVILLE IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  HENRY COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 215 AM EDT

* AT 1109 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED          
  THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN PERSISTING ACROSS HENRY COUNTY.      
  RADAR ESTIMATED THAT OVER 2 INCHES OF RAIN HAD FALLEN IN THE       
  WARNED AREA SINCE 9 PM. AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN IS     
  LIKELY OVER THE AREA IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS...WHICH WILL      
  CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS.

* SOME LOCATIONS THREATENED BY HEAVY RAIN THROUGH 215 AM EDT INCLUDE
  RIDGEWAY...
  MARTINSVILLE...

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT
QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN
AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS
SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

RELAY REPORTS OF FLOODING TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN
BLACKSBURG BY CALLING TOLL FREE...1...8 6 6...2 1 5...4 3 2 4.

LAT...LON 3677 7970 3658 7974 3654 8001 3681 8001

$$

10

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS71 KRNK 140434
FFSRNK
VAC089-690-140615-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1229 AM EDT MON JUL 14 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES AND
INDEPENDENT CITIES UNTIL 215 AM EDT...

  MARTINSVILLE IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  HENRY COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA

AT 1229 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
THUNDERSTORMS WITH MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL ALONG AND SOUTH OF 
HIGHWAY 58...MOVING SLOWLY NORTH.

RUNOFF FROM THIS HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING ALONG 
CREEKS AND STREAMS ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE HIGHWAY 58 CORRIDOR. 
ANOTHER AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN HENRY COUNTY 
THROUGH 130 AM...AND BRING A THREAT OF FLASH FLOODING TO BLACKBERRY 
CREEK. 

911 DISPATCH REPORTED ONLY PONDING WATER ON A FEW ROADS AS OF 1220 
AM...IN THE BASSETT AND MARTINSVILLE AREA.

FOR YOUR SAFETY...DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE 
WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE 
ABANDONED. 

PLEASE RELAY ANY REPORTS OF FLOODING TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER 
SERVICE BY CALLING TOLL FREE...1...8 6 6...2 1 5...4 3 2 4.

$$

WP

The office that day

Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 13, 8:17 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Montgomery	28 min
Jul 13, 8:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Floyd	46 min
Jul 13, 8:40 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Pittsylvania	50 min
Jul 13, 8:56 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Charlotte	3 hr
Jul 13, 9:01 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Montgomery	119 min
Jul 13, 10:11 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Franklin, Patrick	2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in 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.