Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2012

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 5, 2012Wake County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this flash flood warning at May 5, 2012, 10:58 PM EDT for Wake County, North Carolina. It was in force for 103 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: May 5, 2012, 10:58 PM EDT (02:58 UTC)
Expired: May 6, 2012, 12:41 AM EDT
In force: 103 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Storm-based polygon
Flood severity: None

County Wake County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:00 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 110 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: 74 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1167 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 32 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.

083 
WGUS52 KRAH 060258
FFWRAH
NCC183-060600-
/O.NEW.KRAH.FF.W.0003.120506T0258Z-120506T0600Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1058 PM EDT SAT MAY 5 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 200 AM EDT

* AT 1055 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
SHOWERS TRAINING OVER WAKE COUNTY... FROM FALLS LAKE TO RDU 
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO RALEIGH AND CARY. DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED 
THAT 2 TO 3.5 INCHES OF RAIN HAD FALLEN WITH EARLIER STORMS. AN 
ADDITIONAL 1 TO 1.5 INCHES WILL OCCUR THROUGH MIDNIGHT... PRODUCING 
FLASH FLOODING. 

* LOCATIONS THREATENED WITH FLOODING INCLUDE RDU INTERNATIONAL...  
RALEIGH... WEST RALEIGH... CARY... APEX.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT
QUICKLY. MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY
IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

PLEASE REPORT FLOODING TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY CALLING...
1...8 7 7...6 3 3...6 7 7 2 OR NOTIFY YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY.

&&

LAT...LON 3592 7860 3567 7862 3561 7877 3568 7890
      3584 7885 3590 7878 3596 7868

$$

BADGETT

1 follow-up statement

808 
WGUS72 KRAH 060441
FFSRAH

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1241 AM EDT SUN MAY 6 2012

NCC183-060450-
/O.CAN.KRAH.FF.W.0003.000000T0000Z-120506T0600Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
WAKE NC-
1241 AM EDT SUN MAY 6 2012

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELED FOR CENTRAL WAKE
COUNTY...

AT 1238 AM EDT...THE HEAVY RAIN HAS DIMINISHED ACROSS THE REGION. 
CALLS TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN THE COUNTY INDICATED NO 
REPORTS OF FLOODING. THUS THE WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELED.

HOWEVER...DUE TO THE RECENT HEAVY RAINFALL...EXTENSIVE PONDING ON 
AREA ROADWAYS WILL OCCUR...LEADING TO IDEAL CONDITIONS FOR 
HYDROPLANING. MOTORISTS NEED TO BE ALERT FOR THESE PONDS OF WATER 
AND ADJUSTED THEIR DRIVING ACCORDINGLY.

LAT...LON 3592 7860 3567 7862 3561 7877 3568 7890
      3584 7885 3590 7878 3596 7868

$$

WSS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 5, 9:13 PM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	RAH	Nash	90 min
May 5, 10:41 PM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	RAH	Wake	3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 2012 Every flash flood warning in 2012

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.