Flash Flood, Grant
- When
- August 12, 2:00 PM EST to 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Grant County, West Portion
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 39.105, -79.196 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Over 4 inches of rain washed out roads.
Flash Flood in West Virginia, August 12, 2003
Heavy downpours caused flooding in Grant County during the afternoon of the 12th. A spotter 12 miles southwest of Bayard reported 4 inches of rain in only 30 minutes.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LWX wrote it up.
Heavy downpours caused flooding in Grant County during the afternoon of the 12th. A spotter 12 miles southwest of Bayard reported 4 inches of rain in only 30 minutes. This caused a washout on Route 90. Wilson Road also washed out about 10 miles southwest of Bayard. Numerous basements were also flooded in the western tip of the county.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, 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 the first event at Aug 12, 1:40 PM EST, 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 12, 1:40 PM EST, 20 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 240 PM EDT TUE AUG 12 2003 CORRECTED TO ADD XTNDD DISCUSSION .SHORT TERM...(TNGT/WED)... WX FCST/PTN PRETTY MUCH ON TRACK W/ ISOLD CELLS POPPING UP RANDOMLY ACROSS THE CWA. WIND FIELD IS VERY LGT AND MAIN THREAT WL BE VERY HVY RAIN. ALREADY ONE FFW ISSUED FOR XTRM WRN CORNER OF GRANT CO. RDR OPERATOR WL MONITOR 1 HR/3 HR RA TOTALS CLOSELY. XPCTG STORMS TO BE ON THE WANE LATER THIS EVE W/ LOSS OF HTG. ONCE AGN PTCHY OVRNGT FOG SHOULD DVLP...AND THEN A REPEAT OF THIS AFTNS WX. FEEL THE CHC WL BE DCRSG DURG THE AFTN ALONG THE MD/PA BORDER AS HIGH PRES BEGINS BUILDING INTO THE MID ALTC. TEMPS MU80S E OF THE MTNS. WOODY .LATER PERIODS...THIS CYCLE FCST DOMINATED BY BLDG H5 RDG OVR CNTR OF CONUS. SFC HIPRES OHD SHUD SUPRESS MUCH OF THE CNVTCV ACTVTY. WL CARRY LOW END POPS WED NGT TIL ABT MIDNGT OVR FM SHORT TERM SIDE. THEN...WL HV 20 POPS THU AFTN-EVE XCPT 30S IN THE SW WHERE RDGG WL BE WEAKEST AND OROGRAPHICS WL GIVE A LTL XTRA BOOST. WNDS WL BE LGT...BUT WL BCM NWLY THU. THUS...COMPRESSIONAL WARMING COMES INTO PLAY DUE TO DWNSLOPING. THU MAXT BUMPED UP SVRL...CLOSE TO MAV/FWC BLEND. HTS .EXTENDED SAT-TUE...BASED ON MODEL CONSENSUS WILL KEEP PREIOD DRY. H5 RIDGE OVER HEAD WITH RIDGING AT THE SURFACE. A COUPLE OF FRONTS PROGGED TO MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. H7 RH WILL BE LESS THAN 50 PCT. TEMPERATURES WILL BE ABOVE NORMAL...HIGHS IN THE UPPER 80S TO LOWER 90S WITH LOWS IN THE MID 60S. CPW .LWX... DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. MARINE...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 12, 10:22 AM EST, 3 hours 38 minutes before
DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042- 050>057-WVZ048>055-130800- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1122 AM EDT TUE AUG 12 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MARYLAND WEST OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND EAST OF GARRETT COUNTY...THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA...NORTHERN VIRGINIA...THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL SHENANDOAH VALLEY...AND THE EASTERN PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. THE STRONGER STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. IN SOME LOCATIONS SOIL CONDITIONS ARE NEARLY SATURATED. ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL MAY LEAD TO LOCALIZED FLOODING IN THESE AREAS. HOWEVER...WIDESPREAD FLOODING IS NOT ANTICIPATED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. ABW
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 12, 1:41 PM EST, 19 minutes before
VAZ025-121945- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 241 PM EDT TUE AUG 12 2003 ...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN OVER STAUNTON AND AUGUSTA COUNTY... WEATHER RADAR AT 240 PM INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN OVER THE CITY OF STAUNTON AND IN NORTHERN AUGUSTA COUNTY NEAR MOSCOW. THE STORMS DRIFTING SLOWLY NORTH AT LESS THAN 10 MPH. BE ALERT FOR FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN DURING THE NEXT HOUR. HIGH WATER MAY DEVELOP IN LOW SPOTS AND IN AREAS OF POOR DRAINAGE. RDH
The radar
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 148 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:02 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, August 12, 2003
- Wildfire in Montana, August 12 to 24, 2003
- Flash Flooding in Massachusetts, August 12, 2003
- Flash Flood in New York, August 12, 2003
- Wildfire in Hawaii, August 12 to 17, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, August 12, 2003
- Lightning Strike in Virginia, August 12, 2003
- Flash Flood and Flooding in Ohio, August 12, 2003
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Lake Erie, August 12, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, August 12, 2003
- Damaging Winds in Delaware, August 12, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, August 12, 2003
More
Every storm in West Virginia in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in West Virginia, August 2003
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5335879.