Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Blacksburg, VA

April 2, 1990Appomattox County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 2, 1990, 2:59 PM EDT for Appomattox County, Virginia. It was in force for 61 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 2, 1990, 2:59 PM EDT (18:59 UTC)
Expired
Apr 2, 1990, 4:00 PM EDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Appomattox 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 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 173 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 12:00Z on 1990-04-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 5 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 12:00Z on 1990-04-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -16 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
5 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-95 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1369 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0

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, Apr 2, 12:04 PM EDT, 2 hours 55 minutes before
VAZALL-021630-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
740 PM EDT SUN APR 1 1990

THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA.

AT 1145 AM EDT RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN BOTETOURT
COUNTY MOVING EAST AT 30  MPH.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WIND AS THEY
MOVE INTO BEDFORD COUNTY IN THE BIG ISLAND AREA WITHIN THE HOUR.
CG
Special weather statement, Apr 2, 1:40 PM EDT, 1 hour 19 minutes before
VAZALL-021830-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
130 PM EDT SUN APR 1 1990

THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA.

AT 1305 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF THUNDaERSTORMS MOVING INTO
FRANKLIN COUNTY VIRGINIA. THESE STORM ARE MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT
FOR STRONG GUSTY WINDS DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE HAIL.
CG
Special weather statement, Apr 2, 1:42 PM EDT, 1 hour 17 minutes before
VAZALL-021830-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
130 PM EDT SUN APR 1 1990

THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA.

AT 130 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF THcUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO
FRANKLIN COUNTY VIRGINIA. THESE STORM ARE MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT
FOR STRONG GUSTY WINDS DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE HAIL.
CG
Special weather statement, Apr 2, 2:42 PM EDT, 17 minutes before
VAZ-009-021840

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LYNCHBURG VA
240 PM EDT MON APR 2 1990

...POSSIBLE HAIL ENTERING NORTHERN APPOMATTOX COUNTY...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATES THUNDERSTORMS ENTERING
NORTHERN APPOMATTOX COUNTY IN VIRGINIA MAY CONTAIN HAIL.
THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST ABOUT 30 MPH.

HUDGINS
Special weather statement, Apr 2, 2:47 PM EDT, 12 minutes before
VAZ008-009-013-014-015-016-0030000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
230 PM EDT MON APR 2 1990

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH OVER MUCH OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
INCLUDING THE ROANOKE VALLEY AREA AND NEARBY COUNTIES FROM
230 PM UNTIL 800 PM THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH WHICH COVERS A LARGE PORTION OF VIRGINIA.  ALL COUNTIES
NORMALLY SERVED BY THE ROANOKE WEATHER OFFICE ARE INCLUDED IN THE
WATCH AREA...WHICH EXTENDS ON ACROSS MUCH OF VIRGINIA.  THE
COUNTIES COVERED ARE BLAND...GILES...CRAIG...WYTHE...PULASKI...
MONTGOMERY...ROANOKE...BOTETOURT...GRAYSON...CARROLL...FLOYD...
PATRICK...FRANKLIN...AND HENRY...PLUS ASSOCIATED INDEPENDENT
CITIES.

RADAR SHOWS A LINE OF SHOWERS OVER EAST SECTIONS OF WEST VIRGINIA.
THE LINE EXTENDS SOUTHWARD INTO SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA WELL WEST OF
THE ROANOKE AREA.  THIS LINE SHOULD BE SWEEPING ACROSS THE ROANOKE
VALLEY AND SURROUNDING COUNTIES DURING THE REMAINDER OF THE
AFTERNOON.

REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAIN EITHER WINDS OF 55 MPH OR
GREATER OR HAIL 3/4 INCHES OR GREATER...OR BOTH.  SINCE HEAVY
DOWNPOURS ALSO ACCOMPANY SUCH STORMS...REMEMBER ALSO THAT MOST
FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN VEHICLES IN WHICH THE DRIVER HAS
ATTEMPTED TO CROSS ROADWAYS UNDER WHAT WAS PRESUMED TO BE
SHALLOW WATER.

MCINTOSH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 2, 4:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKRoanoke58 min
Apr 2, 5:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKCampbell30 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 1990Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.