Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 86, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 27, 1996Carroll County, Floyd County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 27, 1996, 3:04 PM EDT for Carroll County, Floyd County, Virginia. It was in force for 61 min. 2 reports 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, 3:04 PM EDT (19:04 UTC)
Expired: May 27, 1996, 4:05 PM EDT
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Carroll County, VA, Floyd County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 32 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:03 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 27, 3:30 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Hillsville, VA
May 27, 3:45 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Dugspur, VA

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, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 102 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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.

NWS Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 27, 9:56 AM EDT, 5 hours 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 27, 9:56 AM EDT, 5 hours 8 minutes before

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 27, 12:01 PM EDT, 3 hours 3 minutes before

NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-
059-WVZ042>045-281200-

SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
NOON EDT MON MAY 27 1996

...THERE IS A CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON
   TONIGHT OVER SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA...NORTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
   AND PARTS OF SOUTHEASTERN WEST VIRGINIA...

A FRONT REMAINS NEARLY STATIONARY ACROSS WEST VIRGINIA...SOUTHWESTERN
VIRGINIA AND INTO NORTHERN NORTH CAROLINA. THIS FRONT WILL CONTINUE
TO BE THE FOCUS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
THROUGH TONIGHT. THE BEST CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS TO REACH SEVERE
LEVELS WOULD BE OVER NORTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...THE NEW RIVER
VALLEY AND MOUNTAIN EMPIRE OF VIRGINIA...AND EXTREME SOUTHERN WEST
VIRGINA.THE REST OF WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA AND NORTHWEST NORTH
CAROLINA ALONG AND EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE HAVE A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WOULD BE LARGE HAIL...ALTHOUGH
DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. ANY THUNDERSTORMS
THAT DEVELOP ARE ALSO LIKELY TO HAVE VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS. FLASH
FLOOD WATCHES ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH
CAROLINA...THE NEW RIVER VALLEY AND MOUNTAIND EMPIRE OF
VIRGINIA...AND SOUTHEASTERN WEST VIRGINIA WHERE AS LITTLE AS 1.0 TO
1.5 INCHES OF RAIN IN AN HOUR COULD CAUSE FLASH FLOODING.

SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NECESSARY LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR
THIS EVENING IF THE THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OR WIDESPREAD
FLOODING MATERIALIZES.

THE NEXT THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 630 AM
TUESDAY.

JACKSON

Special weather statement, May 27, 1:23 PM EDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before

VAZ007-009-010-WVZ042>045-271920-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
122 PM EDT MON MAY 27 1996

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM FOR ALL OF SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AND MUCH
OF EXTREME SOUTHWEST VOIRGINIA. IN THE BLACKSBURG WEATHER OFFICE
AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY THIS WATCH INCLUDES TAZEWELL...SMYTH AND
BLAND COUNTIES IN VIRGINIA...AND MERCER...SUMMERS...MONROE AND
GREENBRIER COUNTIES IN WEST VIRGINIA.

AT 115 PM THE BLACKSBURG DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS WERE JUST BEGINNING TO DEVELOP OVER SOUTHWEST
VIRGINIA. THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO RAPIDLY DEVELOP AND BECOME
MORE NUMEROUS THIS AFTERNOON. IN ADDITION...A LINE OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL KENTUCKY WAS MOVING EASTWARD TOWARDS
SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AND SOUTHEASTERN WEST VIRGINIA. THESE STORMS
WOULD ARRIVE IN THE ABOVE MENTIONED COUNTIES LATE THIS AFTERNOON.

PEOPLE IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO THE WEATHER THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES...BE
PREPARED TO SEEK SAFE INDOOR SHELTER.

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE SAME AREA. PLEASE
STAY ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF FLOODING ALONG CREEKS...SMALL
STREAMS LOW LYING AREAS.

LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL NEWS MEDIA FOR FURTHER
UPDATES OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

JACKSON

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 27, 4:48 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Patrick	62 min
May 27, 4:48 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Patrick	62 min
May 27, 5:53 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	City of Martinsville	87 min
May 27, 6:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Pittsylvania, City of Danville	64 min
May 27, 4:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Surry	60 min
May 27, 4:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Wilkes	64 min
May 27, 5:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Stokes	66 min
May 27, 6:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Yadkin	63 min
May 27, 5:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Greenbrier	61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 1996 Every 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.