Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Wakefield, VA

July 13, 1990City of Chesapeake, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at Jul 13, 1990, 9:14 PM EDT for City of Chesapeake, Virginia. It was in force for 61 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jul 13, 1990, 9:14 PM EDT (01:14 UTC)
Expired: Jul 13, 1990, 10:15 PM EDT
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS Wakefield, VA
Area: Whole counties

County City of Chesapeake, 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

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 160 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 182 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 522 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 156 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KORF 140117 RRA
TORORF
VAC550-140215-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING ...TEST...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK VA
914 PM EDT FRI JUL 13 1990


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE STATE OF VIRGINIA
      NORTHERN CITY OF CHESAPEAKE

 FUNNEL CLOUDY WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC NEAR TAYLOR ROAD
IN THE CITY OF CHESEAPEAKE.

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.
IF NO BUILDING IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW PLACE.

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

THOMAS

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Jul 13, 6:04 PM EDT, 3 hours 10 minutes before

VAZ001>004-132300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK VA
6:00 PM EDT THU JUL 13 1990

AT 6PM EDT WEATHER RADAR SHOWS WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS FROM RICHMOND VIRGINIA SOUTH INTO NORTHEASTERN
NORTH CAROLINA.  SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING
HEAVY RAINS DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POISSIBLE STRONG GUSTY WINDS.
THE STORMS ARE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AROUND 30 MILES AN
HOUR.
STORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO THE NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA DURING
THE NEXT HOUR AND THE STORMS IN NORTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA WILL
BE MOVING INTO SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA LATER THIS EVENING.
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL BE WATCHED CLOSELY AND STATEMENTS WILL
BE ISSUED AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.

CWT

Special weather statement, Jul 13, 7:30 PM EDT, 1 hour 44 minutes before

VAZ001>004-140100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK VA
7:30 PM EDT THU JUL 13 1990

 THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA BEGINNING TO MOVE INTO
SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA IN GREENSVILLE COUNTY.  PERSONS ALONG THE STATE
LINE SHOULD WATCH FOR THE APPROACH OF THREATENING WEATHER AND TAKE THE
NECESSARY STEPS FOR THEIR SAFETY.
THE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA MAY BE ACCOMPANIED
BY HEAVY RAINS...STRONG XGUSTY WINDS AND FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.
THE STORMS ARE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST 25 TO 30 MILES AN HOUR.
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS THE STORMS CONTINUE TO MOVE
INTO VIRGINIA.

CWT

Special weather statement, Jul 13, 8:14 PM EDT, 1 hour before

VAZ006-007-003-140300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RICHMOND VA
 815 PM EDT FRI JUL 13 1990

...TUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO SOUTH-CENTRAL VIRGINIA...

AT 805 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADARS WERE SHOWING A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDING FROM NORTHERN SUSSEX COUNTY SOUTHWEST THROUGH BRUNSWICK
AND DINWIDDIE COUNTIES. MOVEMENT WAS TOWARDS THE NORTH AT 30 MPH.

THE STORMS WILL MOVE INTO PRINCE GEORGE AND DINWIDDIE COUNTIES
DURING THE NEXT HOUR...THE STORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS...
SMALL HAIL...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.

FURTHER STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED IF NEEDED.

RWW

Special weather statement, Jul 13, 8:26 PM EDT, 48 minutes before

VAZ001>004-140200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK VA
8:30 PM EDT FRI JUL 13 1990

LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS
SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA.  THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY DOWNOURS AND FREQUENT
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE STRONG GUSTY WINDS ARE IN THE COUNTIES
OF GREENSVILLE...SOUTHAMPTON AND SUSSEX.
PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD WATCH FOR CHANGING WEATHER
AND TAKE THE NECESSARY STEPS FOR THEIR SAFETY.
THE STORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO THE NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA WITH IN
THE HOUR AND THE GREATER HAMPTON ROADS NEXT ONE TO TWO HOURS.
THE STORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEASTWARD AROUND 35 MILES AN HOUR.

CWT

Special weather statement, Jul 13, 8:59 PM EDT, 15 minutes before

VAZ006-007-003-004-140300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RICHMOND VA
 900 PM EDT FRI JUL 13 1990

...TUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH SOUTH-CENTRAL VIRGINIA...

AT 855 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADARS WERE SHOWING A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDING FROM PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY SOUTHWEST THROUGH DINWIDDIE...
BRUNSWICK AND MECKLENBURG COUNTIES. MOVEMENT IS TOWARDS THE NORTH
AT 25 MPH.

THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE FOUND OVER CENTRAL DINWIDDIE COUNTY.
THIS STORM WILL BE MOVING INTO CHESTERFIELD AND AMELIA COUNTIES
DURING THE NEXT HOUR.

DURING THE NEXT HOUR...THE STORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS...
SMALL HAIL...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES
SEEK SAFE SHELTER.
<
FURTHER STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS NEEDED.

RWW

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 1990 Every tornado warning in 1990 Tornadoes in 1990

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.