Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Watches in 2015

Flash Flood Watch 8, NWS Blacksburg, VA

October 1, 201537 counties in Virginia; 9 counties in North Carolina; 4 counties in West Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood watch at Oct 1, 2015, 5:05 AM EDT for 37 counties in Virginia; 9 counties in North Carolina; 4 counties in West Virginia. It took effect at Oct 1, 2015, 8:00 PM EDT. It was in force for 55 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 1, 2015, 5:05 AM EDT (09:05 UTC)
In effect from
Oct 1, 2015, 8:00 PM EDT
Expired
Oct 4, 2015, 3:17 AM EDT
In force
55 hr
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Flood severity
None
All 50 counties

Alleghany County, NC, Ashe County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Stokes County, NC, Surry County, NC, Watauga County, NC, Wilkes County, NC, Yadkin County, NC, Alleghany County, VA, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Bath County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Bland County, VA, Botetourt County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Carroll County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Covington, VA, City of Danville, VA, City of Galax, VA, City of Lexington, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, City of Radford, VA, City of Roanoke, VA, City of Salem, VA, Craig County, VA, Floyd County, VA, Franklin County, VA, Giles County, VA, Grayson County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Henry County, VA, Montgomery County, VA, Patrick County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Pulaski County, VA, Roanoke County, VA, Rockbridge County, VA, Smyth County, VA, Tazewell County, VA, Wythe County, VA, Greenbrier County, WV, Mercer County, WV, Monroe County, WV, Summers County, WV

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 11 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:09 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, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 114 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2015-10-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 95 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2015-10-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -26 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
95 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-34 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1338 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
22 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.2

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 Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood watch went out at Oct 1, 4:50 AM EDT, 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 1, 4:50 AM EDT, 15 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 30, 4:11 PM EDT, 12 hours 54 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
411 PM EDT WED SEP 30 2015

NCZ003>006-019-020-VAZ043>047-058-059-012015-
SURRY-STOKES-ROCKINGHAM-CASWELL-WILKES-YADKIN-HENRY-PITTSYLVANIA-
CAMPBELL-APPOMATTOX-BUCKINGHAM-HALIFAX-CHARLOTTE-
411 PM EDT WED SEP 30 2015

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL NORTH
CAROLINA...NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...CENTRAL VIRGINIA AND SOUTH
CENTRAL VIRGINIA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

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

WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA FROM
FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON...WITH 3 TO LOCALLY 5
INCHES OF RAINFALL POSSIBLE FOR AREAS EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE.
FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE AS BANDS OF HEAVY MAY PASS REPEATEDLY
OVER THE SAME LOCATIONS...ESPECIALLY OVER AREAS WITH SATURATED
SOILS FROM RECENT HEAVY RAIN. IN ADDITION TO FLASH FLOODING...
RIVER FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

VAZ007-009>014-018>020-022>024-WVZ042>044-507-508-012015-
TAZEWELL-SMYTH-BLAND-GILES-WYTHE-PULASKI-MONTGOMERY-CRAIG-
ALLEGHANY VA-BATH-ROANOKE-BOTETOURT-ROCKBRIDGE-MERCER-SUMMERS-MONROE-
EASTERN GREENBRIER-WESTERN GREENBRIER-
411 PM EDT WED SEP 30 2015

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...WEST
CENTRAL VIRGINIA AND SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

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

WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA FROM
FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON...WITH 4 TO LOCALLY 7
INCHES OF RAINFALL POSSIBLE FOR AREAS ALONG THE BLUE RIDGE...
INCLUDING THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY. FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE AS
BANDS OF HEAVY MAY PASS REPEATEDLY OVER THE SAME LOCATIONS...
ESPECIALLY OVER AREAS WITH SATURATED SOILS FROM RECENT HEAVY
RAIN. IN ADDITION TO FLASH FLOODING...RIVER FLOODING WILL BE
POSSIBLE INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

NCZ001-002-018-VAZ015>017-032>035-012015-
ASHE-ALLEGHANY NC-WATAUGA-GRAYSON-CARROLL-FLOYD-PATRICK-FRANKLIN-
BEDFORD-AMHERST-
411 PM EDT WED SEP 30 2015

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST NORTH
CAROLINA...CENTRAL VIRGINIA...SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA...SOUTHWEST
VIRGINIA AND WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

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

WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA FROM
FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON...WITH 2 TO LOCALLY 4
INCHES OF RAINFALL POSSIBLE FOR THE MOUNTAINS. FLASH FLOODING IS
POSSIBLE AS BANDS OF HEAVY MAY PASS REPEATEDLY OVER THE SAME
LOCATIONS...ESPECIALLY OVER AREAS WITH SATURATED SOILS FROM
RECENT HEAVY RAIN. IN ADDITION TO FLASH FLOODING...RIVER FLOODING
WILL BE POSSIBLE INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 30, 8:14 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementRNKCity of Galax61 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Watches in Virginia, 2015Flash Flood Watches in North Carolina, 2015Flash Flood Watches in West Virginia, 2015Every flash flood watch in 2015

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.