Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 13, NWS Wakefield, VA

July 27, 2004Hanover County, Henrico County, City of Richmond, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 27, 2004, 6:30 PM EDT for Hanover County, Henrico County, City of Richmond, Virginia. It was in force for 90 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
Jul 27, 2004, 6:30 PM EDT (22:30 UTC)
Expired
Jul 27, 2004, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
90 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties City of Richmond, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:34 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 142 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2004-07-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 461 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2004-07-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 58 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
461 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
553 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
134 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS51 KAKQ 272231
FFWAKQ
VAC085-087-760-280000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
630 PM EDT TUE JUL 27 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WAKEFIELD HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CITY OF RICHMOND IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  HANOVER COUNTY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  HENRICO COUNTY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 800 PM EDT

* AT 625 PM EDT...FLASH FLOODING WAS REPORTED FROM A THUNDERSTORM
  NEAR DOWNTOWN RICHMOND...OR ABOUT OVER BON AIR...MOVING NORTHEAST
  AT 15 MPH.

* THE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING FLASH FLOODING WILL BE NEAR...
  3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LAUREL BY 645 PM EDT
  OVER LAKESIDE AND 4 MILES NORTHWEST OF EAST HIGHLAND PARK BY 650 PM
  EDT
  4 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GLEN ALLEN BY 655 PM EDT
  4 MILES NORTHWEST OF MECHANICSVILLE BY 700 PM EDT
  4 MILES NORTHWEST OF STUDLEY BY 720 PM EDT
  3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF HANOVER BY 725 PM EDT

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

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE 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.

LAT...LON 3769 7719 3745 7745 3748 7751 3753 7753
      3756 7764 3784 7743 3777 7740 3778 7734
      3776 7735 3775 7731 3771 7729 3772 7724
      3768 7724

$$

BROWN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 27, 7:23 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningAKQNorthumberland, Westmoreland2 hr
Jul 27, 7:58 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningAKQChesterfield, Henrico, City of Richmond92 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 2004Every flash flood warning in 2004

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.