Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 49, NWS Blacksburg, VA

August 7, 2003Mercer County, West Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 7, 2003, 8:14 PM EDT for Mercer 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 outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Aug 7, 2003, 8:14 PM EDT (00:14 UTC)
Expired: Aug 7, 2003, 11:15 PM EDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Mercer County, WV

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:17 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, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 139 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: 298 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 773 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 80 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 KRNK 080018
FFWRNK
WVC055-080315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
814 PM EDT THU AUG 7 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  MERCER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 1115 PM EDT

* AT 814 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS
  WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN PERSISTING OVER SOUTHERN MERCER COUNTY. RADAR
  ESTIMATED THAT UP TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN HAD FALLEN IN THE PAST HOUR. 
  THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE ANOTHER 1 TO 2 INCHES OVER THE
  WARNED AREA...WHICH WILL PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING ALONG BRUSH CREEK.

* SOME LOCATIONS THREATENED BY HEAVY RAIN THROUGH 1115 PM EDT INCLUDE
  PRINCETON...

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 3747 8096 3736 8089 3731 8102 3727 8128
          3753 8119

$$

10

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS71 KRNK 080135
FFSRNK
WVC055-080300-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
932 PM EDT THU AUG 7 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY UNTIL
1100 PM EDT...

  MERCER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA

AT 930 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH OF MERCER COUNTY. RADAR 
ESTIMATES SHOWED THAT AROUND 2 INCHES OF RAIN HAD FALLEN IN THE EAST 
RIVER VICINITY...BETWEEN OAKVALE AND PRINCETON SINCE 8:00 PM. 
ALTHOUGH THE HEAVY RAIN SHOULD CONTINUE TO SLOWLY TAPER OFF...RUNOFF 
FROM THE EARLIER DOWNPOURS...WILL LIKELY CAUSE FLOODING ACROSS THE 
SOUTHEAST PART OF THE COUNTY THROUGH 11:00 PM.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED. MOVE TO
HIGHER GROUND.

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

$$

JH

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 7, 10:42 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Mercer	108 min
Aug 8, 2:47 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Mercer	3 hr

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.