Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 101, NWS Charleston, WV

May 27, 1996Nicholas County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 27, 1996, 4:53 PM EDT for Nicholas County, West Virginia. It was in force for 52 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 27, 1996, 4:53 PM EDT (20:53 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1996, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Nicholas County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:57 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 27, 5:15 PM EDTThunderstorm WindCanvas, WV

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 167 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1996-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 84 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1996-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 191 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
84 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-127 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
851 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
191 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
250 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCRW 272054
SVRCRW
WVC067-272145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
453 PM EDT MON MAY 27 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...NICHOLAS COUNTY
 
AT 450 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING ACROSS
NICHOLAS COUNTY. THIS STORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE STRONG...DAMAGING WINDS
IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND HEAVY RAINS. LARGE HAIL IS
ALSO POSSIBLE.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND 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.
 
 
BELK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 12:32 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXMason, Putnam28 min
May 27, 2:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXWayne43 min
May 27, 3:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXCabell, Lincoln29 min
May 27, 3:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXPutnam48 min
May 27, 3:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXKanawha60 min
May 27, 4:20 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXLogan4 hr
May 27, 4:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXFayette35 min
May 27, 5:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXPocahontas53 min
May 27, 5:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXWebster34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in West Virginia, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.