Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Charleston, WV

May 18, 1995Buchanan County, Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1995, 5:38 PM EDT for Buchanan County, Virginia. It was in force for 52 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1995, 5:38 PM EDT (21:38 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1995, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
52 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, 9.6 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 182139
TORCRW
VAC027-182230-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
538 PM EDT THU MAY 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...BUCHANAN COUNTY
 
DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR IN CHARLESTON WV DETEVCTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
IN SOUTHERN PIKE COUNTY KENTUCKY. THIS STORM HAS BEEN INCREASING IN
INTENSITY AND WAS DISPLAYING STRONG CIRCULATION THAT MAY PRODUCE
A TORNADO.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
ZINN

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, 6:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXDickenson43 min
May 18, 6:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXBuchanan32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes 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.