Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2018
Flash Flood Warning 14, NWS Baltimore/Washington
NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this flash flood warning at May 21, 2018, 10:29 PM EDT for Rockingham County, Virginia. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 21, 2018, 10:29 PM EDT (02:29 UTC)
- Expired
- May 22, 2018, 1:30 AM EDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Baltimore/Washington
- Area
- Storm-based polygon
- Flood severity
- None
County Rockingham County, VA
The radar
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 131 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:29 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 forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Baltimore/Washington wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at May 21, 9:04 PM EDT, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 21, 9:04 PM EDT, 1 hour 25 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Baltimore MD/Washington DC 904 PM EDT Mon May 21 2018 .SYNOPSIS... A front will remain over the Carolinas into the Appalachian Mountains today through tonight. The front will return north as a warm front on Tuesday with a cold front expected to pass through the area on Wednesday. Weak high pressure will build over the area for the second half of the week. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM TUESDAY MORNING/... Showers and thunderstorms in advance of a (very) slow moving warm front have been rather persistent over the highlands of eastern West Virginia and west-central Virginia the last few hours. Low-level warm/moist advection and residual instability should allow these storms to continue until around midnight before gradually weakening. Isolated instances of flooding are possible given high PWAT air and slow storm motion. Precipitation should gradually weaken and become less widespread as it pushes east overnight. Still, scattered showers and a thunderstorm or two are possible into Tuesday morning ahead of the slowly advancing warm front. Patchy fog is expected as well but widespread dense fog seems unlikely with scattered to broken cloud cover moving overhead tonight. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/... After some morning low clouds and patchy fog, the warm front will lift northward, although the extent of which is still in question. This should place much of the region in the warm sector by mid-afternoon Tuesday, especially DC southward. Therefore, instability in this region will increase with MLCAPE values progged to reach 1000-1500 J/KG. While shear will be modest, on the order of 25-30 knots, this combination will likely be enough to support a few strong to isolated severe thunderstorms, and the region has been placed in a Marginal Risk for severe thunderstorms. Synoptically, an area of low pressure will be moving into the eastern Great Lakes, with a cold front trailing into the Ohio Valley. Across the Mid- Atlantic states, a lee trough is expected to develop, and will likely serve as the focus for thunderstorm development Tuesday afternoon, with convection then moving eastward. An area from the Blue Ridge east and DC south currently appears to have the highest chances of seeing stronger thunderstorms. In addition, with precipitable water values in excess of 1.5" and saturated soils, the risk of some isolated incidents of flooding will be increased. High temperatures Tuesday will range from the mid 70s to low 80s. The cold front will then approach the area Tuesday night, and while convection associated with the frontal boundary should be weakening, some may make it into western/central MD and eastern WV late Tuesday evening. Lows Tuesday night in the 60s. The front should complete its crossing the first half of Wednesday and settle across North Carolina Wednesday night. A few lingering showers and isolated thunderstorms may be around Wednesday, although coverage should be much less than Tuesday. Dry conditions area-wide are then expected Wednesday night. Highs Wednesday will range from 80-85F with lows in the 50s/60s. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... A high pressure system will shift eastward into our region from the Great Lakes region on Wednesday. Winds look to remain mostly light and variable. 850 and 700 mb humidity levels look to remain fairly low which will lead to mostly clear skies Thursday through Friday. The high will shift eastward off the eastern seaboard. A south to southwesterly flow will form leading to weak warm air advection developing. Temperatures will trend upward moving into the weekend. High temperatures on Thursday will be in the upper 70s to mid 80s and will slowly trend up into mid to upper 80s on Friday. On Saturday, a strong south to southwesterly flow will be in place over the region due to a high pressure sitting off the eastern sea board. Temperatures will rise up into the upper 80s to lower 90s. Rising temperatures and influx of tropical moisture from the gulf will lead to a chance for some shower and thunderstorm development. Sunday, the interaction of tropical moisture and higher temperatures along with a approaching cold front from the west will lead to increased chances for precipitation and thunderstorms. && .AVIATION /01Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... A warm front gradually approaching from southern Virginia will lead to the development of lower stratus with MVFR/IFR ceilings likely by early Tuesday morning. There is also the potential for some patchy fog/br. The front will then move northward Tuesday morning before a weak cold front passes through Wednesday. Conditions will gradually improve during the day before scattered showers and thunderstorms develop Tuesday afternoon and evening. These showers/storms will then wane Tuesday night, although chances will linger into Wednesday. Light winds and mostly clear skies on Thursday will lead to VFR conditions. Friday, a weak southerly flow forms but VFR conditions are expected. && .MARINE... A few gusts to around 20 knots have been observed early this evening but will diminish with the loss of mixing. A front will then approach the waters tonight from southern Virginia and cross the region Tuesday, before a cold front passes through Wednesday. Showers and thunderstorms are likely Tuesday, especially during the afternoon and evening hours. Some storms may contain gusty winds. South to southwest winds will increase on Tuesday, followed by northwest flow behind the cold front Wednesday. Winds may reach SCA criteria Wednesday. A high pressure system will influence the region leading to light and variable winds Thursday. No small craft advisory is expected. A southerly flow is expected to form Friday leading to winds flowing northward up the Chesapeake. && .TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING... Freshwater continues to decrease as water levels on the Potomac River upstream have crested and they continue to fall. Therefore, the threat for moderate flooding has ended. Minor flooding is still expected near times of high tide through tonight, and it is possible Tuesday for Washington DC. Will continue with the advisory through tonight, and it may need to be extended into Tuesday as well. && .LWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... DC...Coastal Flood Advisory until 6 AM EDT Tuesday for DCZ001. MD...None. VA...None. WV...None. MARINE...None. && SYNOPSIS...MM NEAR TERM...MM/DHOF SHORT TERM...MM LONG TERM...JMG AVIATION...MM/DHOF/JMG MARINE...MM/DHOF/JMG TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...LWX
Hazardous weather outlook, May 21, 10:15 PM EDT, 14 minutes before
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Local storm report, May 21, 7:54 PM EDT, 2 hours 35 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
754 PM EDT MON MAY 21 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0641 PM FLOOD 3 SSE PETERSBURG 38.96N 79.11W
05/21/2018 GRANT WV 911 CALL CENTER
THREE AREAS OF WATER FLOWING OVER DERGON ROAD BETWEEN
NORTH MILL CREEK ROAD AND THE HARDY COUNTY LINE.
&&
EVENT NUMBER LWX1800362
DHLocal storm report, May 21, 9:11 PM EDT, 1 hour 18 minutes before
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</html>Local storm report, May 21, 9:20 PM EDT, 1 hour 9 minutes before
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</html>Local storm report, May 21, 9:23 PM EDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
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</html>Local storm report, May 21, 9:25 PM EDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
925 PM EDT MON MAY 21 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0845 PM FLOOD 1 E YANKEETOWN 38.68N 78.93W
05/21/2018 ROCKINGHAM VA 911 CALL CENTER
HIGH WATER OVER YANKEETOWN ROAD.
&&
EVENT NUMBER LWX1800366
DHThe office that day
Everything else NWS Baltimore/Washington issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 11:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Rockingham, City of Harrisonburg | 29 min |
| May 22, 12:53 AM EDT | River Flood Warning | LWX | Rockingham, Shenandoah | 6 hr |
| May 22, 6:01 AM EDT | Areal Flood Warning | LWX | Shenandoah | 11 hr |
| May 22, 3:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Albemarle, Greene, Madison, Orange, Rockingham, City of Charlottesville | 46 min |
| May 22, 3:25 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Fairfax, Loudoun | 50 min |
| May 22, 3:29 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | LWX | 2 hr | |
| May 22, 4:27 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | LWX | 2 hr | |
| May 22, 4:30 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | LWX | 2 hr | |
| May 22, 4:43 PM EDT | Areal Flood Warning | LWX | Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, City of Alexandria, City of Fairfax, City of Falls Church | 4 hr |
| May 22, 4:48 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Fairfax, Prince William, City of Fairfax | 42 min |
| May 22, 5:17 PM EDT | Areal Flood Warning | LWX | Fairfax | 4 hr |
| May 22, 5:39 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | LWX | 2 hr | |
| May 22, 5:47 PM EDT | Areal Flood Warning | LWX | Shenandoah | 6 hr |
| May 22, 6:29 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | LWX | 2 hr | |
| May 22, 5:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Charles, Prince George's | 52 min |
| May 22, 5:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Anne Arundel | 16 min |
| May 21, 8:16 PM EDT | Areal Flood Warning | LWX | Grant | 3 hr |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 2018Every flash flood warning in 2018
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.