Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Blacksburg, VA

March 30, 1987Montgomery County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at Mar 30, 1987, 11:23 PM EST for Montgomery County, Virginia. It was in force for 7 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 30, 1987, 11:23 PM EST (04:23 UTC)
Expired
Mar 30, 1987, 11:30 PM EST
In force
7 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Montgomery County, VA

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 4.4 hours before the alert went out and 129 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1987-03-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 423 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1987-03-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 137 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
423 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
628 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
137 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KRIC 310423
TORROA
VAC121-310430-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
ISSUED BY RICHMOND VA
1123 PM EST MON MAR 30 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1130 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

VIRGINIA...CENTRAL MONTGOMERY

  THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN ROANOKE HASKREVEIVED A
REPORT OF AN TORNADO AROUND 1038 PM TONIGHT IN THE COUNTY OF
MONTGOMERY. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING TO THE EAST TOWARD THE CITY OF
CHRISTIANSBURG. DAMAGE WAS REPORTED IN A TRAILER COURT WITH THIS
OCCURRANCES.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO..GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER OR
A CENTRAL SINTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. ABANDON CARS AND
MOBILE HOMES FOR REINFORCED BUILDINGS.

PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION TO
ENSURE THEIR SAFETY. SEEK SHELTER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING.

 WILLS

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes in 1987

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.