Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 60, NWS Blacksburg, VA

August 9, 2003Bland County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 9, 2003, 5:49 PM EDT for Bland County, Virginia. It was in force for 2 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, 5:49 PM EDT (21:49 UTC)
Expired
Aug 9, 2003, 8:15 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Bland County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 62 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:53 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, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 130 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 092149
FFWRNK
VAC021-100015-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  EAST CENTRAL BLAND COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 815 PM EDT

* AT 545 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED NEARLY    
  TWO INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN SINCE 430 PM.  THE SHERIFF IN BLAND  
  HAS REPORTED SMALL CREEKS ALONG WALKER CREEK ARE APPROACHING       
  BANKFULL.

* SOME LOCATIONS THREATENED BY HEAVY RAIN THROUGH 815 PM EDT INCLUDE 
  AREAS BETWEEN BLAND AND MECHANICSBURG...ALONG WALKER CREEK.

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 3718 8091 3714 8088 3712 8094 3708 8094
          3705 8105 3711 8110

$$

RCS
2 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS71 KRNK 092253
FFSRNK
VAC021-100015-

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

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

  EAST CENTRAL BLAND COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

AT 650 PM EDT...LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED ROUTE 604 
AND ROUTE 608 HAS BEEN CLOSED DUE TO HIGH WATER AND 
MUDSLIDES...BETWEEN BLAND AND MECHANICSBURG...ALONG WALKERS CREEK.

THE HEAVIEST RAIN HAS MOVED EAST OF THE WARNED 
AREA...HOWEVER...RUNOFF CONTINUES TO BRING CREEKS AND STREAMS ABOVE 
THEIR BANKS.  THEREFORE...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR EAST CENTRAL 
BLAND COUNTY WILL CONTINUE UNTIL 815 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.

$$

RS
000 
WGUS71 KRNK 092353
FFSRNK
VAC021-100015-

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

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

  EASTERN BLAND COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

AT 750 PM EDT...LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED VDOT IS 
STILL WORKING ALONG ROUTE 604 AND ROUTE 608 TO CLEAR GRAVEL AND 
MUD...BUT THAT THE WATER IS RECEDING. DOPPLER RADAR SHOWS THAT 
RAINFALL HAS MOVED OUT OF THE AREA...AND CONDITIONS SHOULD CONTINUE 
TO IMPROVE. UNLESS ADDITIONAL RAINFALL DEVELOPS...THE NATIONAL 
WEATHER SERVICE WILL ALLOW THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING TO EXPIRE AT 815 
PM.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE 
ROADWAY. WATER LEVELS MAY BE TOO HIGH TO SAFELY CROSS. 

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.

$$

JJ

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, 4:18 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKCharlotte3 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.