Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 59, NWS Blacksburg, VA

August 9, 2003Charlotte County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 9, 2003, 4:18 PM EDT for Charlotte County, 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 9, 2003, 4:18 PM EDT (20:18 UTC)
Expired
Aug 9, 2003, 7:15 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Charlotte County, VA

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 128 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:22 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, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 91 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 2003-08-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 678 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 2003-08-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 1 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
678 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
515 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
28 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 092018
FFWRNK
VAC037-092315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
418 PM EDT SAT AUG 9 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SOUTH CENTRAL CHARLOTTE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 715 PM EDT

* AT 415 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED TWO TO    
  THREE INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN SINCE 300 PM BETWEEN THE           
  CITIES OF WYLLIEBURG AND REDOAK AND ALONG BLUESTONE CREEK.

* SOME LOCATIONS THREATENED BY HEAVY RAIN THROUGH 715 PM EDT INCLUDE 
  REDOAK...WYLLIEBURG...AND BARNES JUNCTION.

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 3685 7854 3675 7861 3677 7865 3686 7861

$$

12
2 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS71 KRNK 092108
FFSRNK
VAC037-092315-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
508 PM EDT SAT AUG 9 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES UNTIL
715 PM EDT...

  SOUTH CENTRAL CHARLOTTE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA

AT 500 PM EDT...LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED VERY HEAVY 
RAINFALL BETWEEN REDOAK AND WYLLIESBURG.

RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL HAS CAUSED LAW ENFORCEMENT TO 
CLOSE PORTIONS OF ROUTE 92 AND ROUTE 631 IN THE KING CROSS ROADS 
AREA.  LAW ENFORCEMENT HAS ALSO REPORTED POWER OUTAGE ACROSS THIS 
AREA.

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.

STAY AWAY FROM DRAINAGE DITCHES...STORM SEWERS OR STREAMS...AS THEY
CAN BECOME DEADLY TORRENTS AFTER HEAVY RAIN.

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.

$$

RS
000 
WGUS71 KRNK 092238
FFSRNK
VAC037-092245-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
638 PM EDT SAT AUG 9 2003

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT UNTIL 715 PM EDT FOR

  SOUTH CENTRAL CHARLOTTE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA

HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

THE HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED OVER THE WARNED AREA. STREAMS AND CREEKS IN 
THE WARNED AREA HAVE RECEDED...ENDING THE FLASH FLOOD THREAT. EVEN 
THOUGH STREAMS AND CREEKS WERE RECEDING...SOME ROADWAYS STILL MAY BE 
COVERED WITH WATER. MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO AVOID DRIVING THROUGH 
FLOODED ROADWAYS.

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.

$$

RS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 9, 2:41 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKBedford, Franklin4 hr
Aug 9, 5:49 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKBland2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in 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.