Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 5, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 22, 2004Wilson County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this flash flood warning at May 22, 2004, 10:09 PM EDT for Wilson County, North Carolina. 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 counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 22, 2004, 10:09 PM EDT (02:09 UTC)
Expired: May 23, 2004, 1:15 AM EDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Wilson County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:13 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

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 140 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: 499 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -196 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1234 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 65 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 
WGUS52 KRAH 230212
FFWRAH
NCC195-230515-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1009 PM EDT SAT MAY 22 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS EXTENDED THE 

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  WILSON COUNTY IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 115 AM EDT

* AT 1009 PM EDT LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED FLASH
  FLOODING IN WILSON COUNTY.

* THUNDERSTORMS ARE CONTINUOUSLY REDEVELOPING OVER WILSON COUNTY     
  PRODUCING FLASH FLOODING. 

THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. EVACUATIONS
OF SOME HOUSES ARE ONGOING. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT DRIVE ACROSS FLOODED
ROADS. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED.

MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN 
AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

$$

BADGETT

3 follow-up statements

000 
WGUS72 KRAH 230243
FFSRAH
NCC195-230400-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1040 PM EDT SAT MAY 22 2004

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR WILSON COUNTY
AND THE CITY OF WILSON THROUGH 115 AM...

THIS CONTINUES TO BE A VERY SERIOUS LIFE THREATENING FLASH FLOOD 
EVENT. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH WATER OF UNKNOWN DEPTH.
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IF YOU ARE IN A FLOOD PRONE AREA OR SEE RISING 
WATER APPROACHING YOUR AREA. 

NUMEROUS STREETS AND ROADS ARE UNDERWATER ACROSS CENTRAL AND 
NORTHERN WILSON COUNTY AND IN THE CITY OF WILSON AS OF 1030 PM. 
RESCUE PERSONNEL WERE GOING DOOR TO DOOR IN THE CITY OF WILSON
TO EVACUATE HOUSES IN AREAS WHERE WATER WAS RISING RAPIDLY 
FROM CREEKS AND STREAMS IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS.  

THUNDERSTORMS WERE FINALLY WEAKENING OVER WILSON COUNTY AS OF 1040 
PM... HOWEVER RADAR ESTIMATES SHOW BETWEEN 5 AND 8 INCHES OF 
RAINFALL HAS FALLEN IN THE PAST 3 HOURS OVER THE CITY OF WILSON AND 
SURROUNDING AREAS. THESE RAINFALL RATES AND AMOUNTS PRODUCED COPIOUS 
AMOUNTS OF RUNOFF ESPECIALLY ENHANCED IN URBAN AREA AROUND THE CITY 
OF WILSON.  

LOCATIONS THREATENED WITH CONTINUED FLASH FLOODING INCLUDE... 
WILSON... LAMM... SIMMS... BLACK CREEK AND RURAL WILSON COUNTY. 
FLOODING WILL CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS AFTER THE HEAVY RAINFALL 
ENDS. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT TRY TO TRAVEL UNTIL THE FLOOD WATERS RECEDE.

MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. NEVER DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO
AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING 
WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED.

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

$$

BADGETT

000 
WGUS72 KRAH 230348
FFSRAH
NCC195-230515-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1145 PM EDT SAT MAY 22 2004

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR WILSON COUNTY
AND THE CITY OF WILSON THROUGH 115 AM...

THIS CONTINUES TO BE A VERY SERIOUS LIFE THREATENING FLASH FLOOD 
EVENT. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH WATER OF UNKNOWN DEPTH.
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IF YOU ARE IN A FLOOD PRONE AREA OR SEE RISING 
WATER APPROACHING YOUR AREA. 

NUMEROUS STREETS AND ROADS CONTINUE TO BE UNDERWATER ACROSS CENTRAL 
AND NORTHERN WILSON COUNTY AND IN THE CITY OF WILSON. RESCUE 
PERSONNEL WERE GOING DOOR TO DOOR IN THE CITY OF WILSON TO EVACUATE 
HOUSES IN AREAS WHERE WATER WAS RISING RAPIDLY FROM CREEKS AND 
STREAMS IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS.  

THUNDERSTORMS HAD FINALLY DIMINISHED OVER THE COUNTY. STORM TOTAL 
RADAR ESTIMATES SHOW BETWEEN 5 AND 8 INCHES OCCURRED OVER WILSON. 
THESE RAINFALL RATES AND AMOUNTS PRODUCED COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF RUNOFF 
ESPECIALLY ENHANCED IN URBAN AREA AROUND THE CITY OF WILSON.  
AN OFFICIAL AT THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICE IN WILSON REPORTED 
THAT THE RAIN GAUGE OVERFLOWED AT 5 INCHES BEFORE THE RAIN ENDED.

FLASH FLOODING WILL CONTINUE THROUGH 115 AM... EVEN THOUGH THE 
RAINFALL HAS ENDED. IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME FOR THE FLOOD WATERS TO 
RECEDE. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT TRY TO TRAVEL UNTIL THE FLOOD WATERS 
RECEDE.

MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. NEVER DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO
AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING 
WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED.

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

$$

BADGETT

000 
WGUS72 KRAH 230525
FFSRAH
NCC127-195-230555-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
120 AM EDT SUN MAY 23 2004

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS WHICH WERE IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHERN NASH 
COUNTY AND WILSON COUNTY HAVE EXPIRED...

AS OF 120 AM... THE HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED OVER WILSON AND SOUTHERN 
NASH COUNTIES. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND AN ISOLATED STORM OR TWO WILL 
REMAIN POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT... HOWEVER NO ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN IS 
EXPECTED. 

COUNTY OFFICIALS FROM BOTH NASH AND WILSON COUNTIES REPORT THAT THE 
SEVERE FLOODING FROM EARLIER TONIGHT HAS STARTED TO ABATE... AND THE 
FLOOD WATERS ARE RECEDING. IN WILSON COUNTY... ABOUT 25 TO 30 PEOPLE 
HAD TO BE EVACUATED LAST EVENING FROM THEIR HOUSES DUE TO RAPIDLY 
RISING WATER. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR ESTIMATES THAT AT LEAST 
5 TO 8 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN IN THESE COUNTIES SINCE 8 PM.

SOME STREET FLOODING MAY STILL BE OCCURING IN WILSON AND SOUTHERN 
NASH COUNTIES. REMEMBER THAT MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. 
NEVER DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE 
ROADWAY. THE WATER IS USUALLY DEEPER THAN IT APPEARS... ESPECIALLY 
AT NIGHT. JUST ONE FOOT OF FLOWING WATER IS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO SWEEP 
MOST VEHICLES OFF THE ROAD. 

$$

11

The office that day

Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 22, 8:19 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Wilson	26 min
May 22, 8:42 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Wilson	93 min
May 22, 9:34 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Nash	86 min
May 22, 9:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Wilson	33 min
May 22, 10:54 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Nash	2 hr
May 22, 11:37 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Johnston	113 min
May 23, 12:49 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Durham	26 min
May 23, 1:51 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Durham	84 min
May 23, 2:26 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Harnett	94 min
May 23, 3:35 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Harnett	25 min
May 23, 4:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Wayne	32 min
May 23, 4:46 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Harnett	29 min
May 23, 4:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Alamance	25 min
May 23, 5:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Cumberland	25 min
May 23, 7:27 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Moore	33 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 2004 Every 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.