Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 38, NWS Charleston, WV
NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1995, 10:56 AM EDT for Braxton County, Webster County, West Virginia. It was in force for 49 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 18, 1995, 10:56 AM EDT (14:56 UTC)
- Expired
- May 18, 1995, 11:45 AM EDT
- In force
- 49 min
- Issued by
- NWS Charleston, WV
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Braxton County, WV, Webster County, WV
The nearest sounding before it
Huntington/Tri S, WV (KHTS), launched 12:00Z, 2.9 hours before the alert went out and 170 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCRW 181457 SVRCRW WVC007-101-181545- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 1056 AM EDT THU MAY 18 1995 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...S... IN NORTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA ...BRAXTON COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA ...WEBSTER COUNTY A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS DETECTED BY DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR IN OVER BRAXTON AND NICHOLAS COUNTIES. THIS LINE WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. THESE STORMS HAVE A HISTORY OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS. THESE STORMS SHOULD REACH EASTERN BRAXTON COUNTY AND WESTERN WEBSTER COUNTY BY 1120 AM AND SHOULD BE OUT OF WEBSTER COUNTY AROUND 1130 AM EDT. WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DON'T USE TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCVES 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 20 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 48 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, 9:39 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Cabell, Lincoln, Wayne | 66 min |
| May 18, 9:48 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Jackson, Wood | 6 hr |
| May 18, 9:48 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Lincoln, Mason, Putnam | 6 hr |
| May 18, 9:48 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Calhoun | 6 hr |
| May 18, 9:59 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Doddridge, Gilmer, Harrison, Ritchie | 6 hr |
| May 18, 9:59 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Cabell | 6 hr |
| May 18, 9:59 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Roane, Wirt | 6 hr |
| May 18, 10:08 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Kanawha, Putnam | 52 min |
| May 18, 10:08 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Boone | 52 min |
| May 18, 10:27 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Clay, Fayette, Nicholas | 48 min |
| May 18, 11:03 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | McDowell, Wyoming | 42 min |
| May 18, 11:14 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Wayne | 4 hr |
| May 18, 12:53 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Lewis | 4 hr |
| May 18, 3:14 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Doddridge, Lewis | 5 hr |
| May 18, 3:14 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Jackson, Mason, Wirt | 5 hr |
| May 18, 4:59 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Lincoln, Mingo, Wayne | 31 min |
| May 18, 7:05 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Tyler | 6 hr |
| May 18, 7:44 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Jackson, Mason | 5 hr |
| May 18, 7:44 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Wirt | 5 hr |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in West 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.