Alert archive / West Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2023

Flash Flood Warning 24, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

August 7, 2023Marion County, Wetzel County, West Virginia

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 7, 2023, 1:45 PM EDT for Marion County, Wetzel County, West 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
Aug 7, 2023, 1:45 PM EDT (17:45 UTC)
Expired
Aug 7, 2023, 4:45 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Storm-based polygon
Flood severity
None

Counties Marion County, WV, Wetzel County, WV

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 110 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:46 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 99 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2023-08-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 836 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2023-08-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 129 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
836 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
596 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
129 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
155 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
3.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 Pittsburgh, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Aug 7, 1:23 PM EDT, 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 7, 1:23 PM EDT, 22 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Pittsburgh PA
123 PM EDT Mon Aug 7 2023

.SYNOPSIS...
Thunderstorms are expected this afternoon; severe weather is
likely. The primary threat will be damaging wind, and isolated
tornadoes, with a secondary threat of large hail. Showers may
linger into tomorrow morning, with dry weather expected until
Thursday, thereafter.

&&

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
The morning MCV has progressed off to the north, leaving the
area in the warm sector of a rather anomalous lower Great Lakes
low. NAEFS guidance has the SLP anomaly roughly 2-3 standard
deviations below the mean for this time of year. The
corresponding wind field also remains rather anomalous. Though
the upper jet remains south over the southern Appalachians,
total column wind fields, particularly over southwest PA,
northern WV, and southeast OH remain rather robust. 500mb,
700mb, and 850mb mean wind speeds remain one to two standard
deviations above normal.

The 12Z sounding has allowed a glance into the elevated
environment. With around 1000 J/kg MLCAPE, storms should have no
issues maintaining intensity. The environment is only expected
to become more favorable for areas south of Pittsburgh into the
afternoon with expected diurnal heating. Current GOES 16
visible satellite displays an area of clearing predominately
south of I-70, which is expected to progress slightly north over
the coming hours. This will allow surface heating, and
encourage further instability development. With robust shear and
moderate instability, severe weather will be likely today.
Areas with highest confidence are captured in a Tornado Watch.

Convection has already bubbled in West Virginia, increasing
confidence as this environment spreads west-northwest. This
appears to be affiliated with a weak pre-frontal trough.
Convection is expected to expand along this line and fill in for
northern West Virginia over the coming hours. Trends in
spreading cirrus will have in influence in how much sun some
areas see, which could be a limiting factor.

Severe wind will be likely south of I-70 along the prefrontal
trough and convection filling in behind before the cold frontal
passage this evening, specifically given storm motion between
35-45mph. DCAPE of up to 800 may only compound this as a nose of
dry air aloft works in.

Tornadoes remain on the table with strong low level flow, though
admittedly it will take some mesoscale modulation of the
environment early to fully utilize the SRH, with most shear
being speed related with height. Hodograph shape will improve
slightly behind the pre-frontal trough, though instability will
wain a bit. 0-1km SRH largely ranges between 100-150 which is
favorable for tornadoes, but instability will be needed to
maintain updrafts in any mesocyclones. Only right moving cells
or supercells will support this threat. Hail threats will be
highest in supercells; any strong cores above 30kft may produce
large hail. As mentioned previously, a Tornado Watch has been
hoisted where the threat is highest.

The cold front will move through this evening and early
overnight tonight, although instability will be mostly lost.
Thus, severe threats along the front remain lower for now, but
winds cannot be ruled out completely given fast storm motion.
Behind the cold front, the development of an elevated cap will
limit convection.

&&

.SHORT TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/...
Tuesday and Wednesday look largely dry, as an upper ridge
transition across the region. Temperatures will be seasonable.
Winds will be breezy late morning and through the afternoon with
a rather tight pressure gradient for this time of year and
stronger winds aloft getting tapped with daytime mixing.

&&

.LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/...
Precipitation chances return as the next shortwave traverses
the Middle Ohio Valley Wednesday night and Thursday, with the
clouds and rain helping to keep high temperatures suppressed
below climatology on Thursday. By the end of the week into next
weekend, additional shortwaves will help to carve out a trough
over the Great Lakes and the northeast CONUS. this will keep
rain chances in the forecast through the period, and keep
temperatures near to just below normal.

&&

.AVIATION /18Z MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/...

The main upper trough axis and surface low tracks across the
region this afternoon and evening, fostering fairly widespread
storm development. The surface cold front will cross during the
late evening for another round of storms, with subsidence
limiting precipitation after its passage. Storms in the
afternoon and then along the cold front will be capable of
producing strong, erratic winds, large hail, and possibly a
tornado or two.

Cold advection with residual boundary layer moisture should
foster widespread MVFR/IFR cigs to start Tuesday.

.OUTLOOK...
VFR conditions are likely by Tuesday afternoon with high
pressure building to the south of subsidence aloft. Additional
shortwave passage and a weak frontal boundary developing over
eastern OH may foster isolated convection late Tuesday night.

Quasi-zonal flow will promote additional shortwave passage and
precipitation chances late week into the weekend.

&&

.PBZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PA...None.
OH...None.
WV...None.

&&

SYNOPSIS...Milcarek
NEAR TERM...Milcarek
SHORT TERM...88
LONG TERM...CL
AVIATION...Cermak
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 7, 12:13 PM EDT, 1 hour 32 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Pittsburgh PA
1213 PM EDT Mon Aug 7 2023

OHZ057>059-068-069-PAZ029-031-075-076-WVZ003-004-012-021-509>514-
081615-
Muskingum-Guernsey-Belmont-Noble-Monroe-Washington-Greene-Fayette-
Higher Elevations of Fayette-Ohio-Marshall-Wetzel-Marion-Monongalia-
Ridges of Eastern Monongalia and Northwestern Preston-Preston-
Eastern Preston-Western Tucker-Eastern Tucker-
1213 PM EDT Mon Aug 7 2023

...TORNADO WATCH 599 IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EDT THIS EVENING...

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for east central Ohio, southwest
Pennsylvania, and northern West Virginia.

.DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight.

Please listen to NOAA Weather Radio or go to weather.gov on the
Internet for more information about the following hazards.

   Tornado Watch.

Severe thunderstorms are possible later this afternoon and into the
evening. Isolated tornadoes, damaging wind, and hail will all be
possible.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday.

No hazardous weather is expected at this time.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Weather spotters are encouraged to report significant weather
conditions according to Standard Operating Procedures.

OHZ039>041-048>050-PAZ007>009-013>016-020>022-073-074-077-078-WVZ001-
002-081615-
Tuscarawas-Carroll-Columbiana-Coshocton-Harrison-Jefferson OH-Mercer-
Venango-Forest-Lawrence-Butler-Clarion-Jefferson PA-Beaver-Allegheny-
Armstrong-Westmoreland-Higher Elevations of Westmoreland-Indiana-
Higher Elevations of Indiana-Hancock-Brooke-
1213 PM EDT Mon Aug 7 2023

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for east central Ohio, western
Pennsylvania, and northern West Virginia.

.DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight.

Severe thunderstorms are possible later this afternoon and into the
evening. Isolated tornadoes, damaging wind, and hail will all be
possible.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday.

No hazardous weather is expected at this time.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Weather spotters are encouraged to report significant weather
conditions according to Standard Operating Procedures.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 7, 1:33 PM EDT, 12 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Pittsburgh PA
133 PM EDT Mon Aug 07 2023

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1247 PM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     Mannington              39.53N  80.34W
08/07/2023                   Marion             WV   911 Call Center

            several trees down

0109 PM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     Reedsville              39.51N  79.80W
08/07/2023                   Preston            WV   Emergency Mngr

            trees down

0118 PM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     Kingwood                39.47N  79.68W
08/07/2023                   Preston            WV   Emergency Mngr

            trees down

&&

Event Number PBZ2302064
Event Number PBZ2302065
Event Number PBZ2302066

98
Local storm report, Aug 7, 1:43 PM EDT, 2 minutes before
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The office that day

Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 7, 7:22 AM EDTSpecial Weather StatementPBZBeaver23 min
Aug 7, 12:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZFayette, Greene41 min
Aug 7, 12:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZFayette, Greene48 min
Aug 7, 1:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZFayette50 min
Aug 7, 2:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZIndiana, Jefferson26 min
Aug 7, 2:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZFayette, Greene34 min
Aug 7, 12:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZMarion, Marshall, Wetzel60 min
Aug 7, 1:17 PM EDTTornado WarningPBZPreston13 min
Aug 7, 1:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZMarion, Monongalia, Wetzel39 min
Aug 7, 3:21 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZMarion, Monongalia, Preston116 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in West Virginia, 2023Every flash flood warning in 2023

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.