Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2026

Flash Flood Warning 38, NWS Wakefield, VA

July 12, 2026Essex County, Lancaster County, Richmond County, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 12, 2026, 10:58 AM EDT for Essex County, Lancaster County, Richmond County, Virginia. It was in force for 92 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 12, 2026, 10:58 AM EDT (14:58 UTC)
Expired
Jul 12, 2026, 12:30 PM EDT
In force
92 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Storm-based polygon
Flood severity
None

Counties Essex County, VA, Lancaster County, VA, Richmond County, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 101 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:58 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, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 258 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 2026-07-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 159 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 2026-07-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -23 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
159 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
789 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
16 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 warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Wakefield, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jul 12, 6:56 AM EDT, 4 hours 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 12, 6:56 AM EDT, 4 hours 2 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 12, 4:08 AM EDT, 6 hours 50 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 12, 3:08 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningAKQCity of Chesapeake, City of Norfolk, City of Portsmouth, City of Virginia Beach112 min
Jul 12, 4:03 AM EDTCoastal Flood StatementAKQAccomack, Essex, Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, King and Queen and 20 more23 hr
Jul 12, 7:22 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningAKQLancaster3 hr
Jul 12, 7:34 AM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryAKQChesterfield, Henrico116 min
Jul 12, 9:55 AM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryAKQNorthumberland3 hr
Jul 12, 10:28 AM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryAKQEssex, Lancaster, Richmond30 min
Jul 12, 12:37 PM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryAKQChesterfield, Henrico53 min
Jul 12, 1:35 PM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryAKQCaroline, Essex, King and Queen115 min
Jul 12, 2:31 PM EDTFlood WatchAKQAmelia, Brunswick, Charles City, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Dinwiddie and 31 more12 hr
Jul 12, 2:43 PM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryAKQChesterfield, Hanover, Henrico, City of Richmond3 hr
Jul 12, 6:04 PM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryAKQBrunswick, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg12 min
Jul 12, 6:16 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningAKQBrunswick, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg3 hr
Jul 12, 1:33 AM EDTSpecial Weather StatementAKQCamden, Pasquotank42 min
Jul 12, 5:02 PM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryAKQPasquotank, Perquimans2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 2026Every flash flood warning in 2026

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.