Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 69, NWS Charleston, WV

May 5, 1996Fayette County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 5, 1996, 5:18 PM EDT for Fayette County, West Virginia. It was in force for 42 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 5, 1996, 5:18 PM EDT (21:18 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 1996, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Fayette County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 64 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:18 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 5, 5:52 PM EDTThunderstorm WindAnsted, 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, 9.3 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 1996-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 62 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 1996-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 84 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
62 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-304 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1026 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCRW 052120
SVRCRW
WVC019-052200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
518 PM EDT SUN MAY 5 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...FAYETTE COUNTY
 
DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORM IN EXTREME SOUTHERN
KANAWHA COUNTY NEAR THE FAYETTE COUNTY LINE MOVING EAST AT AROUND 30 MPH
AND MOVING INTO FAYETTE COUNTY NEAR KIMBERLY. THE TOWN OF GAULEY BRIDGE
IS ALSO IN THE PATH OF THE STORM.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILZDING.  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.
 
 
SITES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 10:27 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXBarbour, Harrison6 hr
May 4, 10:27 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXLewis6 hr
May 5, 3:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXMcDowell47 min
May 5, 4:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXMcDowell15 min
May 5, 4:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXBoone, Kanawha50 min
May 5, 4:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXLincoln16 min
May 5, 5:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXRaleigh49 min
May 5, 5:25 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXKanawha4 hr
May 5, 7:26 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXBoone4 hr

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.