Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 94, NWS Blacksburg, VA

November 19, 2003Franklin County, Roanoke County, City of Roanoke, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Nov 19, 2003, 11:25 AM EST for Franklin County, Roanoke County, City of Roanoke, 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: Nov 19, 2003, 11:25 AM EST (16:25 UTC)
Expired: Nov 19, 2003, 2:30 PM EST
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties City of Roanoke, VA, Franklin County, VA, Roanoke County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 33 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:24 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, 4.4 hours before the alert went out and 42 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 566 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 369 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 578 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 191633
FFWRNK
VAC067-161-770-191930-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1125 AM EST WED NOV 19 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  FRANKLIN COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...ROCKY MOUNT...BOONES MILL
  ROANOKE IN WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  ROANOKE COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF ROANOKE

* UNTIL 230 PM EST

* AT 1124 AM EST...TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED FLASH FLOODING  
  FROM THUNDERSTORMS IN THE CITY OF ROANOKE AND VINTON.  SOME STREET 
  FLOODING WAS ALSO BEING REPORTED AT THE INTERSECT OF BALDWIN AND   
  WALNUT.  

* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
  VINTON...ROANOKE AIRPORT...CAVE SPRING AND CALLAWAY.

NEARLY 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN IN THE PAST 12 HOURS ACROSS THE 
COUNTIES OF ROANOKE AND FRANKLIN.  ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF A 
QUARTER TO HALF OF AN INCH CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH 12:30 PM. 

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...HIGHWAYS AND UNDERPASSES. ADDITIONALLY...COUNTRY
ROADS AND FARMLANDS ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS...STREAMS AND OTHER LOW
LYING AREAS ARE SUBJECT TO FLOODING.

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.

PLEASE SEND YOUR REPORTS OF FLOODING...INCLUDING CREEKS AND STREAMS
OUT OF THEIR BANKS...FLOODED ROADS OR MUDSLIDES TO THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE TOLL FREE AT...1...8 6 6...2 1 5...4 3 2 4.2 1 5...4
3 2 4.

LAT...LON 3733 8001 3700 8011 3699 7987 3733 7988

$$

RCS

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS71 KRNK 191930
FFSRNK
VAC067-161-770-192030-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
230 PM EST WED NOV 19 2003

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT FOR FRANKLIN AND  
ROANOKE COUNTY ALLOWED TO EXPIRE AT 230 PM EST...

HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED OVER THE WARNED AREA. SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS 
IN THE WARNED AREA HAVE RECEDED OR WERE BEGINNING TO RECEDE...ENDING 
THE FLASH FLOOD THREAT. 

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE 
ROADWAY.  STAY AWAY FROM DRAINAGE DITCHES...STORM SEWERS OR STREAMS. 

$$

WERT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 19, 4:50 AM EST	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Smyth	3 hr
Nov 19, 5:42 AM EST	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Tazewell	5 hr
Nov 19, 6:46 AM EST	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Grayson	6 hr
Nov 19, 7:23 AM EST	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Bland, Giles, Wythe	4 hr
Nov 19, 7:44 AM EST	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Smyth	3 hr
Nov 19, 8:35 AM EST	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Alleghany, Bath, City of Covington	4 hr
Nov 19, 8:35 AM EST	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Carroll, Patrick, City of Galax	5 hr
Nov 19, 10:15 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Bedford	45 min
Nov 19, 11:28 AM EST	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Rockbridge, City of Buena Vista, City of Lexington	3 hr
Nov 19, 1:14 PM EST	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Amherst	3 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.