Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2012

Flash Flood Warning 22, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 14, 20126 counties in Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood warning at May 14, 2012, 9:23 PM EDT for 6 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 6 hr. 1 report 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: May 14, 2012, 9:23 PM EDT (01:23 UTC)
Expired: May 15, 2012, 3:15 AM 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, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Lexington, VA, Rockbridge County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:25 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
May 14, 10:47 PM EDT	FLASH FLOOD	4 Nw Glasgow, VA	CAR STRANDED FROM WATER FLOODING OVER TINKERVILLE ROAD...WHICH REQUIRED A SWIFT WATER RESCUE

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 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 67 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: 763 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 537 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 91 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

099 
WGUS51 KRNK 150123
FFWRNK
VAC009-019-023-163-530-678-150715-
/O.NEW.KRNK.FF.W.0022.120515T0123Z-120515T0715Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
923 PM EDT MON MAY 14 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 315 AM EDT.

* AT 917 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
VERY HEAVY RAIN FROM SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WARNED AREA. 
THIS IS AN UPGRADE TO THE EARLIER FLOOD WARNING BECAUSE OF INCREASED 
RAINFALL RATES.

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO SNOWDEN...
  LEXINGTON CITY...VESUVIUS...ROCKBRIDGE BATHS...NATURAL BRIDGE...
  GLASGOW...FAIRFIELD...CORNWALL...COLLIERSTOWN...BROWNSBURG...
  ORONOCO...ALTO AND BUENA VISTA CITY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODING. 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 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 3793 7920 3789 7915 3785 7914 3781 7916
      3738 7952 3749 7988 3803 7938

$$

DS

3 follow-up statements

705 
WGUS71 KRNK 150306
FFSRNK

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1106 PM EDT MON MAY 14 2012

VAC009-019-023-163-530-678-150715-
/O.CON.KRNK.FF.W.0022.000000T0000Z-120515T0715Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
ROCKBRIDGE VA-CITY OF BUENA VISTA VA-CITY OF LEXINGTON VA-
BOTETOURT VA-BEDFORD VA-AMHERST VA-
1106 PM EDT MON MAY 14 2012

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 315 AM EDT FOR THE 
CITY OF BUENA VISTA...THE CITY OF LEXINGTON...ROCKBRIDGE...EASTERN 
BOTETOURT...NORTHERN BEDFORD AND NORTHWESTERN AMHERST COUNTIES...

AT 1059 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO 
INDICATE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TRAINING ACROSS THE WARNED AREA. 
ADDITIONAL RAINFALL OF 2 TO 5 INCHES HAS OCCURRED THIS EVENING AND 
WILL RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT WIDESPREAD FLASH FLOODING ESPECIALLY FROM 
LEXINGTON AND BUENA VISTA SOUTH INTO EASTERN BOTETOURT COUNTY. MANY 
ROADS WILL BECOME FLOODED IN THESE AREAS AS CREEKS AND STREAMS 
OVERFLOW THEIR BANKS IN THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO. 

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO LEXINGTON
CITY...VESUVIUS...ROCKBRIDGE BATHS...FAIRFIELD...CORNWALL AND 
BROWNSBURG.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE IN THE 
WARNED AREA.

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.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODING. 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.

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.

FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS IMMINENT. MOST FLOOD RELATED DEATHS OCCUR
IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS WATER COVERED BRIDGES...
DIPS...OR LOW WATER CROSSINGS. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...
EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT. TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER
GROUND.

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 3793 7920 3789 7915 3785 7914 3781 7916
      3738 7952 3749 7988 3803 7938

$$

JH

834 
WGUS71 KRNK 150339
FFSRNK

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1139 PM EDT MON MAY 14 2012

VAC009-019-023-163-530-678-150715-
/O.CON.KRNK.FF.W.0022.000000T0000Z-120515T0715Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
ROCKBRIDGE VA-CITY OF BUENA VISTA VA-CITY OF LEXINGTON VA-
BOTETOURT VA-BEDFORD VA-AMHERST VA-
1139 PM EDT MON MAY 14 2012

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 315 AM EDT FOR THE
CITY OF BUENA VISTA...THE CITY OF LEXINGTON... ROCKBRIDGE...EASTERN
BOTETOURT...NORTHERN BEDFORD AND NORTHWESTERN AMHERST COUNTIES...

AT 1129 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO 
INDICATE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING PERSISTENT VERY HEAVY 
RAINFALL OVER THE WARNED AREA. RAINFALL OF 2 TO 5 INCHES FROM 
EASTERN BOTETOURT COUNTY TO GLASGOW HAS CAUSED MANY ROAD TO BE 
CLOSED DUE TO FLOODING. IN ADDITION...WATER RESCUES WERE ONGOING 
AROUND GLASGOW DUE TO RAPIDLY RISING WATER. THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS 
SHIFTING NORTH INTO LEXINGTON AND BUENA VISTA AND WILL QUICKLY CAUSE 
FLASH FLOODING TO DEVELOP THROUGH 1 AM. OTHERWISE SIGNIFICANT 
WIDESPREAD FLOODING AND FLASH FLOODING WILL OCCUR ACROSS MUCH OF 
EASTERN BOTETOURT AND MOST OF ROCKBRIDGE COUNTIES.

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO LEXINGTON 
CITY...VESUVIUS...ROCKBRIDGE BATHS...FAIRFIELD...CORNWALL...NATURAL 
BRIDGE...GLASGOW...BUENA VISTA AND BROWNSBURG.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE IN THE 
WARNED AREA.

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.

MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. NEVER DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO
AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. FLOOD WATERS ARE USUALLY
DEEPER THAN THEY APPEAR. JUST ONE FOOT OF FLOWING WATER IS POWERFUL
ENOUGH TO SWEEP VEHICLES OFF THE ROAD. WHEN ENCOUNTERING FLOODED
ROADS MAKE THE SMART CHOICE...TURN AROUND...DONT DROWN.

FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS IMMINENT. MOST FLOOD RELATED DEATHS OCCUR
IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS WATER COVERED BRIDGES...
DIPS...OR LOW WATER CROSSINGS. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...
EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT. TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER
GROUND.

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF FLOOD WATERS. ONLY A FEW INCHES OF
RAPIDLY FLOWING WATER CAN QUICKLY CARRY AWAY YOUR VEHICLE.

&&

LAT...LON 3793 7920 3789 7915 3785 7914 3781 7916
      3738 7952 3749 7988 3803 7938

$$

JH

525 
WGUS71 KRNK 150720
FFSRNK

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
320 AM EDT TUE MAY 15 2012

VAC009-019-023-163-530-678-150727-
/O.EXP.KRNK.FF.W.0022.000000T0000Z-120515T0715Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
ROCKBRIDGE VA-CITY OF BUENA VISTA VA-CITY OF LEXINGTON VA-
BOTETOURT VA-BEDFORD VA-AMHERST VA-
320 AM EDT TUE MAY 15 2012

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING HAS EXPIRED FOR THE CITY OF BUENA VISTA...
THE CITY OF LEXINGTON... ROCKBRIDGE...EASTERN BOTETOURT...NORTHERN
BEDFORD AND NORTHWESTERN AMHERST COUNTIES...

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH AN AERIAL FLOOD 
WARNING THROUGH 800 AM EDT TUESDAY.

ONLY VERY LIGHT RAINFALL IS EXPECTED ACROSS THIS REGION THROUGH THE 
REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT. HOWEVER...EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OF 5 TO 7 
INCHES WITH LOCALIZED RAINFALL AMOUNTS TO NEAR NINE INCHES WAS 
OBSERVED ACROSS THIS AREA MONDAY EVENING. EXCESSIVE RUNOFF INTO AREA 
CREEKS...STREAMS...AND RIVERS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY. 
SOME ROADS WILL REMAIN FLOODED AND CLOSED THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY. 
CHECK WITH LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR DETAILS ON ROAD CLOSURES AND 
DETOURS.

BE ESPECIALLY ALERT WHEN TRAVELLING AT NIGHT IN OR NEAR FLOODED 
AREAS. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE 
ROAD. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT FOR YOU TO PROCEED SAFELY.

LAT...LON 3793 7920 3789 7915 3785 7914 3781 7916
      3738 7952 3749 7988 3803 7938

$$

RAB

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 14, 8:02 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	Bedford	28 min
May 14, 8:41 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Bedford, Franklin	5 hr
May 14, 8:55 PM EDT	Areal Flood Warning	RNK	Amherst, Bedford, Rockbridge, City of Buena Vista, City of Lexington	6 hr
May 14, 9:10 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	Bland	35 min
May 14, 9:16 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Bland, Giles	4 hr
May 15, 1:27 AM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	RNK	Bedford, Franklin	6 hr
May 15, 1:39 AM EDT	Areal Flood Warning	RNK	Bedford, Franklin	6 hr
May 15, 3:15 AM EDT	Areal Flood Warning	RNK	Botetourt, Rockbridge, City of Buena Vista, City of Lexington	6 hr
May 15, 5:39 AM EDT	Flash Flood Watch	RNK	Amherst, Bedford, Botetourt, Carroll, Floyd, Franklin and 8 more	17 hr
May 15, 6:19 AM EDT	Dense Fog Advisory	RNK	Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery and 6 more	4 hr
May 15, 1:11 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	City of Galax	64 min
May 15, 4:57 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Grayson	5 hr
May 15, 5:43 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	Grayson	62 min
May 15, 5:47 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	Wythe	58 min
May 15, 6:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Pulaski, Wythe	62 min
May 15, 6:56 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Bedford, Franklin	6 hr
May 15, 6:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Bedford, Campbell, Franklin, Pittsylvania	63 min
May 15, 7:49 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	Pulaski	56 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 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; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.