Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Blacksburg, VA

April 20, 1996Halifax County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 20, 1996, 5:22 PM EDT for Halifax County, Virginia. It was in force for 53 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 20, 1996, 5:22 PM EDT (21:22 UTC)
Expired
Apr 20, 1996, 6:15 PM EDT
In force
53 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Halifax County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 122 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:25 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 69 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 1996-04-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 33 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 1996-04-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 2 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
33 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-354 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
714 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KRNK 202123
SVRRNK
VAC083-202215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
522 PM EDT SAT APR 20 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA
 
   ...HALIFAX COUNTY
 
AT 520 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN SOUTHWESTERN
HALIFAX COUNTY MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR SOUTH
BOSTON AROUND 535 PM.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN...AND SOMETIMES DO...PRODUCE @TORNADOES.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
JACKSON

The office that day

Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 20, 2:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKGrayson, City of Galax30 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.