Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 42, NWS Charleston, WV

May 18, 1995Buchanan County, Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1995, 6:28 PM EDT for Buchanan County, Virginia. It was in force for 32 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1995, 6:28 PM EDT (22:28 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1995, 7:00 PM EDT
In force
32 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, 10.5 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, Huntington/Tri S, WV at 12:00Z on 1995-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 550 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Huntington/Tri S, WV at 12:00Z on 1995-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 371 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
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 182229
SVRCRW
VAC027-182300-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
628 PM EDT THU MAY 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...SOUTHERN BUCHANAN COUNTY
 
DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER CENTRAL
DICKENSON COUNTY VIRGINIA AT 625 PM EDT. THIS STORM WILL MOVE INTO
SOUTHERN BUCHANAN COUNTY VIRGINIA BY 635 PM EDT.
 
THIS STORM WILL RACE ACROSS SOUTHERN BUCHANAN COUNTY BY 700 PM.
THE TRACK OF THIS STORM WILL PUT IT JUST NORTH OF DAVENPORT
AROUHND 645 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, 1:04 PM EDT, 5 hours 24 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, 38 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 10:49 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXBuchanan26 min
May 18, 5:38 PM EDTTornado WarningRLXBuchanan52 min
May 18, 6:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXDickenson43 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.