Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Blacksburg, VA

July 5, 1987Bedford County, Roanoke County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at Jul 5, 1987, 9:39 PM EDT for Bedford County, Roanoke County, Virginia. It was in force for 26 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 5, 1987, 9:39 PM EDT (01:39 UTC)
Expired
Jul 5, 1987, 10:05 PM EDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bedford County, VA, Roanoke 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, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 132 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 1987-07-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1987-07-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 46 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KROA 060140
TORROA
VAC019-515-161-770-775-060245-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
939 PM EDT SUN JUL 5 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

VIRGINIA...EXTREME BEDFORD...EXTREME CITY OF BEDFORD...EXTREME
 ROANOKE...EXTREME CITY OF ROANOKE AND EXTREME CITY OF SALEM

A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC BETWEEN ROUTE 419 AND THE
GE PLANT IN SALEM VIRGINIA MOVING EAST AT 925 PM EDT.

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

PLEASE REPORT ALL SEVERE WEATHER TO YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
OFFICIALS AND ASK THEN TO PASS THE REPORT ALONG TO A WEATHER
SERVICE OFFICE.
 EDWARDS 0140Z

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.