Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1992

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Wakefield, VA

September 4, 1992City of Virginia Beach, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at Sep 4, 1992, 3:04 PM EDT for City of Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was in force for 41 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 4, 1992, 3:04 PM EDT (19:04 UTC)
Expired
Sep 4, 1992, 3:45 PM EDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Whole counties

County City of Virginia Beach, VA

The nearest sounding before it

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 143 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 1992-09-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 856 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 1992-09-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 10 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
856 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
700 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
61 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KORF 041906
TORORF
VAC810-041945-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK VA
304 PM EDT FRI SEP 4 1992
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORFOLK VA  HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA...
 
   ...SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA BEACH AND EASTERN VIRGINIA BEACH
 
A NAVY FORECASTER SPOTTED A FUNNEL CLOUD IN THE PRINCESS ANNE PARK
AREA OF VIRGINIA BEACH. THIS IS JUST NORTH OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT
COMPLEX.
 
THE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING THIS FUNNEL CLOUD IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT
NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH AND WILL MOVE  FROM SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA BEACH
INTO THE OCEANFRONT AREA SHORTLY.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
WALSTON

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, Sep 4, 2:08 PM EDT, 56 minutes before
VAZ001>004-042000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK VA
2:05 PM EDT FRI SEP 4 1992

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP OVER EXTREME SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA...

AT 200 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDING FROM HERTFORD COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA TO THE BACK BAY AREA
OF VIRGINIA BEACH. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED OVER EXTREME
SOUTHERN VIRGINIA BEACH IN BACK BAY. THIS ACTIVITY IS MOVING
EAST-NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH AND WILL BE AFFECTING SOUTHERN VIRGINIA BEACH
MAINLY SOUTH OF THE RESORT STRIP DURING THE NEXT HOUR.

A LIGHT SHOWER IS INDICATED ALONG THE OCEANFRONT NEAR CAMP PENDLETON
AND A THUNDERSTORM HAS DEVELOPED BETWEEN COURTLAND AND BOYKINS IN
SOUTHERN SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY.

CONDITIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCATTERED SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON OVER THE AREA.
.
ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO DEVELOP WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
BREIF HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS AND LIGHTNING.

WALSTON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 4, 4:50 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQCity of Virginia Beach40 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 1992Every tornado warning in 1992Tornadoes in 1992

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.