Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 76, NWS Blacksburg, VA

August 28, 2003City of Lynchburg, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 28, 2003, 7:15 PM EDT for City of Lynchburg, 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 28, 2003, 7:15 PM EDT (23:15 UTC)
Expired
Aug 28, 2003, 10:15 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County City of Lynchburg, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:19 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, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 38 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 2003-08-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1180 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 2003-08-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 15 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1180 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-68 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
898 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
25 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 282316
FFWRNK
VAC680-290215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
715 PM EDT THU AUG 28 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  LYNCHBURG IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 1015 PM EDT

* AT 715 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED TORRENTIAL 
  RAINS OVER LYNCHBURG CITY.  RADAR ESTIMATED UP TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN HAD
  FALLEN IN THE CITY SINCE 615 PM.  ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN IS HIGHLY 
  LIKELY THROUGH 8 PM.

* SOME LOCATIONS THREATENED BY HEAVY RAIN THROUGH 1015 PM EDT INCLUDE
  LYNCHBURG CITY...

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THESE STORMS WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...URBAN AREAS...HIGHWAYS...STREETS AND UNDERPASSES
AS WELL AS OTHER DRAINAGE AREAS AND LOW LYING SPOTS.

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 3744 7914 3739 7911 3737 7921 3747 7923

$$

09
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGUS71 KRNK 290028
FFSRNK
VAC680-290045-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
828 PM EDT THU AUG 28 2003

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1015 PM EDT FOR
LYNCHBURG CITY HAS BEEN CANCELED...

THE HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED OVER THE WARNED AREA. HOWEVER...SOME CITY 
ROADS WITH POOR DRAINAGE MAY STILL BE COVERED WITH WATER.  BE 
EXTREMELY CAREFUL IF TRAVELING THROUGH THE CITY THE REST OF THE 
EVENING.

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

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.

$$

JDS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 28, 6:03 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKAlleghany3 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.