Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Wakefield, VA

January 7, 1995City of Hampton, City of Newport News, City of Poquoson, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 7, 1995, 2:11 AM EST for City of Hampton, City of Newport News, City of Poquoson, Virginia. It was in force for 34 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 7, 1995, 2:11 AM EST (07:11 UTC)
Expired
Jan 7, 1995, 2:45 AM EST
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Whole counties

Counties City of Hampton, VA, City of Newport News, VA, City of Poquoson, VA

The nearest sounding before it

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 00:00Z, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 129 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 00:00Z on 1995-01-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1995-01-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 383 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1183 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
76 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
383 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
481 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS1 KORF 070711 RRA
SVRORF
VAC550-650-700-710-735-810-070745-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK VA
211 AM EST SAT JAN 7 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORFOLK HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA THE INDEPENDENT CITIES OF
 
   ...CHESAPEAKE...HAMPTON...NEWPORT NEWS...NORFOLK
   ...POQUOSON...VIRGINIA BEACH
 
A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING THROUGH THE HAMPTON ROADS
AREA...WINDS GUSTED TO 69 MPH AT THE NORFOLK AIRPORT DURING THE LAST FEW
MINUTES. HAIL HAS ALSO BEEN REPORTED IN THE AREA.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

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, Jan 7, 1:50 AM EST, 21 minutes before
VAZ084>098-070755-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK VA
150 AM EST SAT JAN 7 1995

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM FOR THE HAMPTON ROADS
CITIES...THE LOWER EASTERN SHORE...MIDDLE PENINSULA...AND INTERIOR
SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA...

AT 1:45 AM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE INTERIOR SOUTHEAST OF VIRGINIA. THIS
LINE WAS MOVING QUICKLY TO THE NORTHEAST AT AROUND 45 MPH. THE
STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED ALONG THE BORDER BETWEEN SOUTHAMPTON
COUNTY AND THE CITY OF SUFFOLK AND EXTENDED SOUTHWEST INTO NORTH
CAROLINA.

AS THE STORMS MOVE THROUGH SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA...STRONG GUSTY WINDS
IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH...TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING CAN
BE ANTICIPATED.

A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS
SHOULD TAKE THE APPROPRIATE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS AND LISTEN TO NOAA
WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION.

STEPHENS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 7, 2:11 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCity of Chesapeake, City of Norfolk, City of Virginia Beach34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 1995Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1995

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.