Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 97, NWS Blacksburg, VA

November 19, 2003Amherst County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Nov 19, 2003, 1:14 PM EST 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
Nov 19, 2003, 1:14 PM EST (18:14 UTC)
Expired
Nov 19, 2003, 4:15 PM EST
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), 117 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:14 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, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 55 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 2003-11-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 2003-11-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 369 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
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 191814
FFWRNK
VAC009-192115-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  AMHERST COUNTY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...FORKS OF BUFFALO...CLIFFORD...AMHERST

* UNTIL 415 PM EST

* AT 109 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  FLASH FLOODING FROM THUNDERSTORMS THAT HAVE CROSSED AMHERST        
  COUNTY.  DOPPLER RADAR HAS ESTIMATED 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAS     
  FALLEN SINCE 11:30 PM.

* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
  PLEASANT VIEW...ORONOCO...NEW GLASGOW...LOWESVILLE...
  FALCONERVILLE...ELON AND ALTO.

ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF A QUARTER TO HALF OF AN INCH ARE 
POSSIBLE IN THE WARNED AREA THROUGH 2:00 PM.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.
IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.
RESIDENTS LIVING ALONG STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS
SWIFTLY FLOWING WATERS OR WATERS OF UNKNOWN DEPTH BY FOOT OR BY
AUTOMOBILE.

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 3762 7938 3746 7916 3753 7890 3776 7911
          3778 7925

$$

RCS
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGUS71 KRNK 192004
FFSRNK
VAC009-192015-

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

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES AND INDEPENDENT CITIES UNTIL 415 PM EST... AMHERST COUNTY 
HAS BEEN CANCELLED...

THE HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED OVER THE WARNED AREA. 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.

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.

$$

RCS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 19, 4:50 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKSmyth3 hr
Nov 19, 5:42 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKTazewell5 hr
Nov 19, 6:46 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKGrayson6 hr
Nov 19, 7:23 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKBland, Giles, Wythe4 hr
Nov 19, 7:44 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKSmyth3 hr
Nov 19, 8:35 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKAlleghany, Bath, City of Covington4 hr
Nov 19, 8:35 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKCarroll, Patrick, City of Galax5 hr
Nov 19, 10:15 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKBedford45 min
Nov 19, 11:25 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKFranklin, Roanoke, City of Roanoke3 hr
Nov 19, 11:28 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRNKRockbridge, City of Buena Vista, City of Lexington3 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.