Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 66, NWS Blacksburg, VA

August 10, 2003Amherst County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 10, 2003, 8:34 PM EDT for Amherst 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 10, 2003, 8:34 PM EDT (00:34 UTC)
Expired
Aug 10, 2003, 11:30 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Amherst County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:36 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, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 53 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 00:00Z on 2003-08-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 810 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Roanoke, VA at 00:00Z on 2003-08-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 8 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
810 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
775 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
2 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KRNK 110041 CCA
FFWRNK
VAC009-110330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
834 PM EDT SUN AUG 10 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN AMHERST COUNTY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 1130 PM EDT

* AT 834 PM EDT...NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PERSONNEL REPORTED OTTER 
  CREEK IN SOUTHWEST AMHERST COUNTY COMING OUT OF ITS BANKS. A 
  CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL OVER NORTHERN 
  BEDFORD COUNTY WAS MOVING INTO WESTERN AMHERST COUNTY. THIS WILL 
  BRING AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN THROUGH 10:00 PM...AND 
  COULD RESULT IN SERIOUS FLASH FLOODING.

* SOME LOCATIONS THREATENED BY HEAVY RAIN THROUGH 1130 PM EDT INCLUDE
  OTTER CREEK...
  OTTER CREEK CAMPGROUND...
  PEDLAR MILLS...

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THESE STORMS WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...COUNTRY ROADS...AS WELL AS FARMLAND ALONG THE
BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS.

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 3762 7941 3752 7926 3777 7918 3775 7928

$$

...CORRECTED LOCATION AREA OF COUNTY FOR WARNING...

06
2 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS71 KRNK 110216
FFSRNK
VAC009-110330-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1015 PM EDT SUN AUG 10 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES UNTIL
1130 PM EDT...

  WESTERN AMHERST COUNTY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA

AT 1015 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL CONTINUING OVER WESTERN 
AMHERST COUNTY. RADAR HAS ESTIMATED THAT BETWEEN TWO AND TWO AND A 
QUARTER INCHES HAD FALLEN IN THIS AREA SINCE 800 PM. AN ADDITIONAL 
ONE TO TWO INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH 1115 PM.

THE HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSING FLASH FLOODING IN WESTERN AMHERST 
COUNTY...AND ALONG THE FOLLOWING CREEKS...OTTER CREEK...BUCKS BRANCH 
AND WILDERNESS CREEK. SOME TOWNS THAT COULD BE AFFECTED 
INCLUDE...PEDLAR MILLS...NAOLA...AND AGRICOLA.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.

CAMPERS IN THE WARNED AREA MUST MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.

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.

$$

WP
000 
WGUS71 KRNK 110329
FFSRNK
VAC009-110345-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1130 PM EDT SUN AUG 10 2003

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN AMHERST
COUNTY HAS EXPIRED AS OF 1130 PM EDT...

THE HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED OVER THE WARNED AREA. EVEN THOUGH THE FLOOD 
THREAT HAS ENDED...SOME ROADS STILL MAY HAVE PONDED WATER ON 
THEM...SO USE CAUTION IF TRAVELING. 

DO NOT CROSS ANY FLOODED ROADWAYS. TURN AROUND...AND FIND ANOTHER 
ROUTE.


$$

WP

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 10, 8:04 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKBedford3 hr
Aug 10, 9:48 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKBedford2 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.