Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1992

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Wakefield, VA

November 4, 1992Southampton County, City of Suffolk, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at Nov 4, 1992, 7:51 PM EST for Southampton County, City of Suffolk, Virginia. It was in force for 39 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Nov 4, 1992, 7:51 PM EST (00:51 UTC)
Expired: Nov 4, 1992, 8:30 PM EST
In force: 39 min
Issued by: NWS Wakefield, VA
Area: Whole counties

Counties City of Suffolk, VA, Southampton County, VA

The nearest sounding before it

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 187 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: 34 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -100 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 721 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 126 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 262 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KORF 050054
TORORF
VAC175-620-800-050130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK VA
751 PM EST WED NOV 4 1992
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORFOLK VA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...S...
 
IN SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA
 
   ...SOUTHEASTERN SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY
 
  AND THE INDEPENDENT CITIES OF
 
   ...FRANKLIN...SOUTHWESTERN SUFFOLK
 
WEATHER RADAR INDICATES A TORNADO IN HERTFORD COUNTY IN NORTH CAROLINA
MOVING TOWARD THE VIRGINIA STATE LINE AT 30 MPH. THE STORM MAY AFFECT
THIS AREA DURING THE NEXT HALF HOUR. TAKE ACTION NOW!
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
PETROLITO

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, Nov 4, 7:04 PM EST, 47 minutes before

VAZ001>004-050300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK VA
704 PM EST WED NOV 04 1992

...SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA...
...LEADING EDGE MOVING INTO SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY...

AT 655PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS AND EMBEDDED
THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA. THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS
NORTH OF ROCKY MOUNT IN HALIFAX COUNTY.

THESE STORMS HAVE A HISTORY OF PRODUCING SEVERE WEATHER...PEOPLE
LIVING ALONG THE VIRGINIA/ NORTH CAROLINA BORDER SHOULD BE ALERT TO
APPROACHING THREATENING WEATHER.

THE AREA IS MOVING EAST AT 12 MPH BUT THE STORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEAST
AROUND 30 MPH. A FEW STRONG STORMS MAY MOVE INTO SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA.

STAY TUNED TO TV...RADIO AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER UPDATES
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

PETROLITO

Nearby

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