Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 37, NWS Charleston, WV

May 18, 1995Buchanan County, Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1995, 10:49 AM EDT for Buchanan County, Virginia. It was in force for 26 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 18, 1995, 10:49 AM EDT (14:49 UTC)
Expired: May 18, 1995, 11:15 AM EDT
In force: 26 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, WV
Area: Whole counties

County Buchanan County, VA

The nearest sounding before it

Huntington/Tri S, WV (KHTS), launched 12:00Z, 2.8 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-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: 550 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -87 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 971 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 371 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 379 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 4.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCRW 181451
SVRCRW
VAC027-181515-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
1049 AM EDT THU MAY 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...BUCHANAN COUNTY
 
DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR IN CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO BUCHANAN COUNTY VIRGINIA AT 1045 AM EDT. THIS
STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR AND SHOULD MOVE THROUGH
GRUNDY AROUND 1100 AM.
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STANDB BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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, May 18, 6:36 AM EDT, 4 hours 13 minutes before

OHZ083-084-087-KYZ101>104-181300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
626 AM EDT THU MAY 18 1995

...TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST KENTUCKY AND
SOUTHEAST OHIO UNTIL NOON...
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH TONIGHT FOR PORTIONS
OF WEST VIRGINIA..KENTUCKY AND OHIO...

THE TORNADO WATCH POSTED THIS MORNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL
NOON.  THE INITIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE STRONG THUNDERSXTORMS WILL BE
FURTHER WEST IN CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO.  THE
DEVELOPMENT OF POTENTIALLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS NOT EXPECTED IN
THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF OHIO OR KENTUCKY UNTIL AFTER 900 AM.

END AAR

Special weather statement, May 18, 9:08 AM EDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before

WVZ005>047-VAZ001>017-OHZ066-067-075-076-083>087-KYZ101>105-107-
119-181905-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
855 AM EDT THU MAY 18 1995

...TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST KENTUCKY AND
SOUTHEAST OHIO UNTIL NOON...WEST VIRGINIA AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
UNTIL 3 PM...
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH TONIGHT FOR PORTIONS
OF WEST VIRGINIA..KENTUCKY AND OHIO...

THE VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS COULD POSSIBLY PRODUCE STRONG WINDS AND
HAIL WERE MOVING ACROSS EASTERN KENTUCKY INTO NORTHERN VIRGINIA AT
THIS TIME.  PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE VERY STRONG STORMS SHOULD
BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND SHOULD TAKE SHELTER
IMMEDIAT.ELY.

END/ELW

The office that day

Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 18, 5:38 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RLX	Buchanan	52 min
May 18, 6:02 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Dickenson	43 min
May 18, 6:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Buchanan	32 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 1995 Every 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.