Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 41, NWS Charleston, WV
NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1995, 6:02 PM EDT for Dickenson County, Virginia. It was in force for 43 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 18, 1995, 6:02 PM EDT (22:02 UTC)
- Expired
- May 18, 1995, 6:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 43 min
- Issued by
- NWS Charleston, WV
- Area
- Whole counties
County Dickenson County, VA
The nearest sounding before it
Huntington/Tri S, WV (KHTS), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 139 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 182203 SVRCRW VAC051-182245- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 602 PM EDT THU MAY 18 1995 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...... IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA ...DICKENSON COUNTY AT 600 PM EDT DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER NORTHERN WISE COUNTY VIRGINIA. THIS STORM WAS RACING EAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR. THIS STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS DICKENSON COUNTY VIRGINIA BY 640 PM. THIS STORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS. IT SHOULD REACH THE CLINTWOOD AREA AROUND 620 PM. 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. ZINN
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, 12:22 PM EDT, 5 hours 40 minutes before
KYZ101-102-104-190000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT/RIVER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 1215 PM EDT THU MAY 18 1995 ...WATER LEVELS RUNNING HIGH ON THE LITTLE SANDY RIVER..... RAIN AMOUNTS OF BETWEEN AN INCH TO 2 INCHES HAVE FALLEN OVER THE LITTLE SANDY BASIN. THESE RAIN AMOUNTS COUPLED WITH THE SATURATED GROUND HAVE LET MOST OF THE WATER RUNOFF INTO THE STREAMS AND INTO THE LITTLE SANDY RIVER. WATER LEVELS ON THE LITTLE SANDY AT LEON AND GRAYSON WERE RUNNING NEAR BANKFULL AT THIS TIME. THE LITTLE SANDY AT GRAYSON IS EXPECTED TO CREST AROUND THE FLOOD STAGE OF 21 FEET DURING THE MORNING HOURS ON FRIDAY. BACKWATER AFFECTS ON STREAMS AND CREEKS THAT FEED INTO THE LITTLE SANDY MAY CAUSE SOME MINOR FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS. PERSONS ALONG THE LITTLE SANDY RIVER IN KENTUCKY SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR WATER LEVELS. DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAYS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TV OR RADIO FOR ANY FURTHER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS. END/SIKORA
Special weather statement, May 18, 1:04 PM EDT, 4 hours 58 minutes before
WVZ005>011-013>020-024>040-042>047-VAZ003-004-KYZ105-107-119-181800- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 104 PM EDT THU MAY 18 1995 ...TORNADO WATCH FOR WEST VIRGINIA...AND LAWRENCE...JOHNSON AND MARTIN COUNTIES OF KENTUCKY HAS BEEN CANCELLED. THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER HAS ENDED ACROSS EASTERN KENTUCKY AND WEST VIRGINIA AT THIS TIME. MORE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY LATER THIS AFTERNOON. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE CONDITIONS FAVORABLE FOR MORE SEVERE WEATHER MAY REDEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON ...BUT IT IS NOT CERTAIN AT THIS TIME. YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR CONDITIONS CLOSELY THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON. LATER STATEMENTS AND FORECASTS WILL UPDATE THE PROGRESS OF THIS WEATHER SITUATION. REYNOLDS
Special weather statement, May 18, 5:50 PM EDT, 12 minutes before
WVZ007-009-017-018-029-OHZ066-067-076-083>085-KYZ101-102-104-202300- SPECIAL WEATHER AND RIVER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 545 PM EDT THU MAY 18 1995 ...WATER LEVELS RUNNING HIGH ON THE LITTLE SANDY IN KENTUCKY... AND ON THE HOCKING AND MUSKINGUM RIVERS IN OHIO.... ...HIGH WATER LEVELS EXPECTED ON THE LITTLE KANAWHA RIVER IN WEST VIRGINIA... RAINFALL THAT FELL ACROSS THE AREA EARLIER TODAY....EXPECTED RAINFALL BETWEEN 3/4 TO 1.50 INCHES THIS EVENING...AND THE ALREADY SATURATED GROUND WILL ALLOW MOST OF THE WATER TO RUNOFF INTO THE STREAMS AND INTO THE LITTLE SANDY...HOCKING...MUSKINGUM...AND LITTLE KANAWHA RIVERS. WATER LEVELS ON THE LITTLE SANDY AT GRAYSON WERE RUNNING NEAR BANKFULL AT THIS TIME. THE LITTLE SANDY AT GRAYSON IS EXPECTED TO CREST AROUND THE FLOOD STAGE OF 21 FEET DURING THE MORNING HOURS ON FRIDAY. WATER LEVELS ON THE HOCKING RIVER AT ATHENS IS EXPECTED TO REACH NEAR THE FLOOD STAGE OF 20 FEET ON SATURDAY EVENING. WATER LEVELS ON THE MUSKINGUM RIVER ARE EXPECTED TO CREST FROM 3/4 TO NEAR BANKFULL AT MCCONNELLSVILLE. WATER LEVELS ON THE LITTLE KANAWHA AT GLENVILLE ARE EXPECTED TO REACH 3/4 TO NEAR BANKFULL AROUND NOON ON FRIDAY. GRANTSVILLE AND ELIZABETH ARE ONLY EXPECTED TO REACH 3/4 BANKFULL. BACKWATER AFFECTS ON STREAMS AND CREEKS THAT FEED INTO THESE RIVERS MAY CAUSE SOME MINOR FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS. PERSONS LIVING ALONG THE LITTLE SANDY...HOCKING...MUSKINGUM... AND LITTLE KANAWHA SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR WATER LEVELS. DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAYS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TV AND RADIO FOR ANY FURTHER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS. END/SIKORA
The office that day
Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 10:49 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Buchanan | 26 min |
| May 18, 5:38 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RLX | Buchanan | 52 min |
| May 18, 6:28 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Buchanan | 32 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.