Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Watches in 2018

Flash Flood Watch 3, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 28, 201833 counties in Virginia; 9 counties in North Carolina; Mercer County, West Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this flash flood watch at May 28, 2018, 3:13 PM EDT for 33 counties in Virginia; 9 counties in North Carolina; Mercer County, West Virginia. It took effect at May 29, 2018, 8:00 AM EDT. It was in force for 64 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 28, 2018, 3:13 PM EDT (19:13 UTC)
In effect from: May 29, 2018, 8:00 AM EDT
Expired: Jun 1, 2018, 12:00 AM EDT
In force: 64 hr
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Flood severity: None

All 43 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, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox 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 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, 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, Mercer County, WV

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 12 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:13 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

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 64 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 991 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -10 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

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 May 28, 1:41 PM EDT, 1 hour 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 28, 1:41 PM EDT, 1 hour 32 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, May 28, 4:48 AM EDT, 10 hours 25 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 28, 1:11 PM EDT, 2 hours 2 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 27, 8:52 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Bland, Buckingham, Campbell and 8 more	53 min
May 27, 9:15 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Campbell, City of Lynchburg	3 hr
May 27, 9:52 PM EDT	Areal Flood Warning	RNK	Roanoke, City of Roanoke, City of Salem	6 hr
May 28, 12:23 AM EDT	Areal Flood Warning	RNK	Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Campbell, City of Lynchburg	3 hr
May 28, 1:11 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	Bedford	34 min
May 27, 8:27 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga	63 min
May 27, 10:33 PM EDT	Areal Flood Warning	RNK	Mercer	3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Watches in Virginia, 2018 Flash Flood Watches in North Carolina, 2018 Flash Flood Watches in West Virginia, 2018 Every flash flood watch 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.