Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Watches in 2009

Flash Flood Watch 14, NWS Charleston, WV

August 19, 20094 counties in West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this flash flood watch at Aug 19, 2009, 12:16 PM EDT for 4 counties in West Virginia. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 19, 2009, 12:16 PM EDT (16:16 UTC)
Expired
Aug 19, 2009, 8:34 PM EDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Flood severity
None

Counties Logan County, WV, McDowell County, WV, Mingo County, WV, Wyoming County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 75 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:17 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, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 210 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 2009-08-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 474 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 2009-08-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 71 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
474 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-36 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
748 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
71 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood watch went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Charleston, WV wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood watch went out at Aug 19, 6:33 AM EDT, 5 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 19, 6:33 AM EDT, 5 hours 43 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 19, 4:08 AM EDT, 8 hours 8 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
408 AM EDT WED AUG 19 2009

KYZ101>103-105-OHZ066-067-075-076-083>087-VAZ003-004-WVZ005>011-
013>020-024>040-046-047-200815-
GREENUP-CARTER-BOYD-LAWRENCE KY-PERRY-MORGAN-ATHENS-WASHINGTON-
JACKSON OH-VINTON-MEIGS-GALLIA-LAWRENCE OH-DICKENSON-BUCHANAN-WAYNE-
CABELL-MASON-JACKSON WV-WOOD-PLEASANTS-TYLER-LINCOLN-PUTNAM-KANAWHA-
ROANE-WIRT-CALHOUN-RITCHIE-DODDRIDGE-MINGO-LOGAN-BOONE-CLAY-BRAXTON-
GILMER-LEWIS-HARRISON-TAYLOR-MCDOWELL-WYOMING-RALEIGH-FAYETTE-
NICHOLAS-WEBSTER-UPSHUR-BARBOUR-POCAHONTAS-RANDOLPH-
408 AM EDT WED AUG 19 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST
KENTUCKY...SOUTHEAST OHIO...SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AND WEST VIRGINIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.

OCCASIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN A TROPICAL AIRMASS WILL
BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY DOWNPOURS TODAY. TRAINING
OF THESE SHOWERS AND STORMS COULD CAUSE THE FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

OCCASIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN A TROPICAL AIRMASS BE
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY DOWNPOURS ON THURSDAY.
TRAINING OF THESE SHOWERS AND STORMS COULD CAUSE THE FLOODING OF
SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS. THIS THREAT WILL BE MONITORED FOR
POSSIBLE FLASH FLOOD WATCHES.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 19, 10:50 AM EDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
1050 AM EDT WED AUG 19 2009

VAZ003-004-WVZ024-025-033-034-191645-
BUCHANAN-DICKENSON-LOGAN-MCDOWELL-MINGO-WYOMING-
1050 AM EDT WED AUG 19 2009

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT BUCHANAN...DICKENSON...
MCDOWELL...SOUTHEASTERN LOGAN...SOUTHEASTERN MINGO AND WYOMING
COUNTIES...

AT 1046 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS WERE
TRACKING A LINE OF TRAINING THUNDERSTORMS LOCATED NEAR
CLINTWOOD...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

OTHER IMPACTED LOCATIONS INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO BRUNO...
HAMPDEN...AVONDALE...ELBERT...MAYBEURY...COALWOOD...JOLO...PANTHER...
COAL MOUNTAIN...HERNDON...CLEAR FORK...WOLF PEN...CYCLONE...HINCH...
HANOVER...BAILEYSVILLE...STACY...ROSEANN...MCCLURE...NORA...BIG
ROCK...VANSANT...JOHN FLANNAGAN LAKE...HURLEY...HAYSI...GRUNDY...
CLINTWOOD...CLINCHCO...BREAKS INTERSTATE PARK...WELCH...WAR...R.D.
BAILEY LAKE...PINEVILLE...OCEANA...NORTHFORK...MALLORY...KIMBALL...
KEYSTONE...IAEGER...GILBERT CREEK...GILBERT...GARY...DAVY AND
BRADSHAW.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE ELEVATED LEVELS ON
SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS...AND PONDING OF WATER ON COUNTRY ROADS AND
FARMLAND ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS.

IN HILLY TERRAIN THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF LOW WATER CROSSINGS WHICH ARE
POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS IN HEAVY RAIN. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TRAVEL ACROSS
FLOODED ROADS. FIND ALTERNATE ROUTES. IT TAKES ONLY A FEW INCHES OF
SWIFTLY FLOWING WATER TO CARRY VEHICLES AWAY.

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. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

PLEASE REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY
CALLING TOLL FREE...877-633-6772...WHEN YOU CAN DO SO SAFELY.

21

The office that day

Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 19, 2:49 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXMcDowell3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Watches in West Virginia, 2009Every flash flood watch in 2009

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.