Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Wakefield, VA

March 31, 1989City of Hampton, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 31, 1989, 3:04 PM EST for City of Hampton, Virginia. It was in force for 56 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 31, 1989, 3:04 PM EST (20:04 UTC)
Expired
Mar 31, 1989, 4:00 PM EST
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Whole counties

County City of Hampton, 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

Cape Hatteras, NC (KHAT), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 213 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, Cape Hatteras, NC at 12:00Z on 1989-03-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 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, Cape Hatteras, NC at 12:00Z on 1989-03-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 18 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1005 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 31, 12:26 PM EST, 2 hours 38 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RICHMOND VA
1225 PM EST FRI MAR 31 1989

 ...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS RAPIDLY DEVELOPING OVER VIRGINIA...

AT 1225 PM EST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED WIDELY
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VIRGINIA. THE SHOWERS WERE LOCATED OVER THE
COUNTIES OF POWHATAN...AMELIA...NOTTOWAY...LUNENBURG...AND
MECKLENBURG. AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM HAD RAPIDLY DEVELOPED
OVER SOUTHWESTERN MECKLENBERG COUNTY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
WILL BECOME MORE NUMEROUS THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING
AND WILL LIKELY INTENSIFY.

THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EASTWARD AT AROUND
35 MPH. FURTHER STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED PERIODICALLY THROUGHOUT
THE AFTERNOON ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS ACTIVITY.

MATT
Special weather statement, Mar 31, 1:40 PM EST, 1 hour 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK VA
130 PM EST FRI MAR 31 1989

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM FOR ALL OF SOUTHEASTERN
VIRGINIA INCLUDING THE LOWER BAY AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS.

AT 130 PM EST WEATHER RADAR SHOWS A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM
RICHMOND SOUTH THROUGH THE SOUTHEASTERN PIEDMONT INTO CENTRAL
NORTH CAROLINA. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE ACCOMPANIED
BY STRONG GUSTY WINDS..HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 TO 50 MPH AND WILL
BE MOVING INTO THE INTERIOR SOUTHEAST AREA OF VIRGINIA WITHIN THE
NEXT HOUR.

THE AREA OF CONCERN WILL BE MONITORED CLOSELY AND FURTHER STATEMENTS
WILL BE ISSUED AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.
JS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 31, 1:27 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQChesterfield, Henrico48 min
Mar 31, 1:37 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQDinwiddie53 min
Mar 31, 1:48 PM ESTTornado WarningAKQChesterfield, Dinwiddie, Prince George42 min
Mar 31, 1:57 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQNew Kent63 min
Mar 31, 1:57 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCharles City, Chesterfield, Prince George63 min
Mar 31, 2:23 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQJames City, York67 min
Mar 31, 2:51 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQIsle of Wight, Southampton, City of Suffolk69 min
Mar 31, 3:12 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQAccomack, Northampton63 min
Mar 31, 3:18 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCity of Chesapeake, City of Virginia Beach57 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

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.