Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 63, NWS Blacksburg, VA

August 10, 2003Roanoke County, City of Roanoke, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 10, 2003, 1:07 AM EDT for Roanoke County, City of Roanoke, Virginia. It was in force for 113 min. 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 10, 2003, 1:07 AM EDT (05:07 UTC)
Expired: Aug 10, 2003, 3:00 AM EDT
In force: 113 min
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties City of Roanoke, VA, Roanoke County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:06 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, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 40 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: 385 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -79 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 980 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 22 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KRNK 100508
FFWRNK
VAC161-770-100700-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
107 AM EDT SUN AUG 10 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS EXTENDED THE

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  ROANOKE CITY IN WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  ROANOKE COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 300 AM EDT

* AT 105 AM EDT...LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED FLOODING ALONG TINKER CREEK
  AND GLADE CREEK...RESULTING IN FLOODED ROADS IN THE VINTON AREA...
  INCLUDING WALNUT AND 8TH STREETS. ALTHOUGH THE RAIN HAS LONG ENDED
  TINKER CREEK WILL CONTINUE RISING THROUGH 200 AM...AND CONTINUE
  THE FLASH FLOODING IN AND AROUND VINTON AND THE NORTHEAST SIDE 
  OF ROANOKE CITY.

* SOME LOCATIONS THREATENED BY HEAVY RAIN THROUGH 300 AM EDT INCLUDE
  ROANOKE...
  VINTON....

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. DO NOT CROSS BARRICADES...LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS HAVE SET
UP FOR YOUR SAFETY. FIND AN ALTERNATE ROUTE.

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 3731 7987 3723 7986 3722 7995 3725 8002
          3731 8001 3733 7997 3736 7996

$$

05

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS71 KRNK 100659
FFSRNK
VAC161-770-100715-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
258 AM EDT SUN AUG 10 2003

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT FOR ROANOKE CITY AND  
ROANOKE COUNTY HAS EXPIRED AS OF 300 AM EDT...

LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED STREAMS AND CREEKS IN THE WARNED AREA 
HAVE RECEDED OR WERE BEGINNING TO RECEDE...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.

$$

WP

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 9, 10:06 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Bedford	114 min
Aug 9, 11:15 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Roanoke, City of Roanoke	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.