Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2011

Flash Flood Warning 8, NWS Blacksburg, VA

April 16, 20118 counties in Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at Apr 16, 2011, 1:26 PM EDT for 8 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 6 hr. 4 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Apr 16, 2011, 1:26 PM EDT (17:26 UTC)
Expired: Apr 16, 2011, 7:30 PM EDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Storm-based polygon
Flood severity: None

Counties Amherst County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Botetourt County, VA, Campbell County, VA, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Lexington, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, Rockbridge County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:25 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 16, 1:38 PM EDT	FLASH FLOOD	2 Ne Naola, VA	WATER ON BUFFALO SPRINGS TURNPIKE
Apr 16, 2:15 PM EDT	FLASH FLOOD	Lexington, VA	FLOODING COUNTY WIDE.
Apr 16, 2:30 PM EDT	FLASH FLOOD	3 Se Montvale, VA	GOOSE CREEK FLOODING AT 460 WILKERSON MILL ROAD WITH WATER AND DEBRIS IN THE ROAD.
Apr 16, 3:00 PM EDT	FLASH FLOOD	7 Nw Lexington, VA	ONE FAMILY EVACUATED ALONG MUDDY LANE DUE TO HIGH WATER.

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 52 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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 480 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 76 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 747 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 975 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.

812 
WGUS51 KRNK 161726
FFWRNK
VAC009-019-023-031-163-515-530-678-680-162330-
/O.NEW.KRNK.FF.W.0008.110416T1726Z-110416T2330Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
126 PM EDT SAT APR 16 2011

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  CITY OF BEDFORD IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  CITY OF BUENA VISTA IN WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  CITY OF LEXINGTON IN WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  CITY OF LYNCHBURG IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  WEST CENTRAL CAMPBELL COUNTY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  EASTERN BOTETOURT COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  BEDFORD COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  WESTERN AMHERST COUNTY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 730 PM EDT.

* AT 122 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  VERY HEAVY RAIN FROM A THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WARNED AREA.

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO LEXINGTON
  CITY...VESUVIUS...ROCKBRIDGE BATHS...NATURAL BRIDGE...GOSHEN...
  GLASGOW...FAIRFIELD...CORNWALL...COLLIERSTOWN...BROWNSBURG...BELLS
  VALLEY...SNOWDEN...COLEMAN FALLS...BIG ISLAND...PLEASANT VIEW...
  ORONOCO...NAOLA...FORKS OF BUFFALO...ELON...ALTO...SPRINGWOOD...
  BUCHANAN...ARCADIA AND BUENA VISTA CITY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE IN THE 
WARNED AREA. RAINFALL RATES ARE VERY INTENSE AND THE RAIN WILL
FALL VERY QUICKLY WITH RAPID RUNOFF OCCURRING.

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.

PLEASE RELAY ANY REPORTS OF FLOODING INCLUDING MUDSLIDES...OR ROAD
CLOSURES TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG BY CALLING
TOLL FREE...1...8 6 6...2 1 5...4 3 2 4. DELAYED REPORTS ARE WELCOME.

&&

LAT...LON 3792 7918 3788 7915 3782 7916 3740 7912
      3707 7945 3704 7958 3726 7964 3733 7983
      3773 7971 3783 7962 3786 7962 3787 7963
      3805 7951 3808 7948

$$

PC

1 follow-up statement

042 
WGUS71 KRNK 161831
FFSRNK

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
231 PM EDT SAT APR 16 2011

VAC009-019-023-031-163-515-530-678-680-162330-
/O.CON.KRNK.FF.W.0008.000000T0000Z-110416T2330Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
ROCKBRIDGE VA-CITY OF BEDFORD VA-CITY OF BUENA VISTA VA-
CITY OF LEXINGTON VA-CITY OF LYNCHBURG VA-CAMPBELL VA-BOTETOURT VA-
BEDFORD VA-AMHERST VA-
231 PM EDT SAT APR 16 2011

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 730 PM EDT FOR THE
CITY OF BEDFORD...THE CITY OF BUENA VISTA...THE CITY OF LEXINGTON...
THE CITY OF LYNCHBURG... WESTERN AMHERST...BEDFORD...EASTERN
BOTETOURT...WESTERN CAMPBELL AND ROCKBRIDGE COUNTIES...

AT 216 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO 
INDICATE A STRONG STORMS PRODUCING FLASH FLOODING RAINFALL OVER THE 
WARNED AREA.

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO LEXINGTON
CITY...VESUVIUS...ROCKBRIDGE BATHS...GOSHEN...FAIRFIELD...CORNWALL...
COLLIERSTOWN...BROWNSBURG...BELLS VALLEY...ORONOCO...FORKS OF
BUFFALO...ALTO AND BUENA VISTA CITY

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

FLOODING WAS REPORTED EARLIER NEAR BLUE RIDGE IN BOTETOURT COUNTY 
WITH WATER COVERING PARTS OF ROUTE 460 AND SOME HOMES POSSIBLY 
THREATENED. 

ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE IN PARTS 
OF THE WARNED AREA...MAINLY IN LYNCHBURG CITY AND EASTERN BEDFORD 
AND WESTERN AMHERST COUNTIES.

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.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT SATURDAY EVENING
FOR NORTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA.

&&

LAT...LON 3792 7918 3788 7915 3782 7916 3740 7912
      3707 7945 3704 7958 3726 7964 3733 7983
      3773 7971 3783 7962 3786 7962 3787 7963
      3805 7951 3808 7948

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 16, 9:35 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Carroll, Floyd, Grayson, Patrick, City of Galax	5 hr
Apr 16, 9:58 AM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	Grayson, Wythe	32 min
Apr 16, 11:27 AM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	Alleghany, Bath, Botetourt, Carroll, Craig, Floyd and 8 more	63 min
Apr 16, 12:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Carroll, Floyd, Franklin, Montgomery, Roanoke, City of Roanoke and 1 more	65 min
Apr 16, 12:16 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Alleghany, Bath, Botetourt, Craig, Montgomery, Roanoke and 1 more	59 min
Apr 16, 12:24 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Alleghany, Botetourt, Craig, Montgomery, Roanoke, City of Covington and 2 more	4 hr
Apr 16, 1:04 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Bedford, Floyd, Franklin, Patrick, Roanoke	3 hr
Apr 16, 1:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Alleghany, Bath, Bedford, Botetourt, Rockbridge, City of Buena Vista and 1 more	54 min
Apr 16, 1:43 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Amherst, Bedford, Rockbridge	47 min
Apr 16, 1:43 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Amherst, Rockbridge, City of Buena Vista, City of Lexington	32 min
Apr 16, 1:51 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Charlotte, Halifax, Pittsylvania, City of Danville	69 min
Apr 16, 1:57 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Halifax, Pittsylvania	48 min
Apr 16, 2:22 PM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	RNK	Halifax, Pittsylvania, City of Danville	3 hr
Apr 16, 2:23 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	Bath	37 min
Apr 16, 2:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Amherst, Bedford, Campbell, City of Lynchburg	35 min
Apr 16, 2:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Halifax, Pittsylvania	71 min
Apr 16, 2:45 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Charlotte, Halifax	45 min
Apr 16, 2:56 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Charlotte, Halifax	37 min
Apr 16, 3:04 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Amherst, Appomattox, Buckingham	26 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 2011 Every flash flood warning in 2011

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.