Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Blacksburg, VA

June 10, 1996Pittsylvania County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at Jun 10, 1996, 8:28 AM EDT for Pittsylvania County, Virginia. It was in force for 47 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: Jun 10, 1996, 8:28 AM EDT (12:28 UTC)
Expired: Jun 10, 1996, 9:15 AM EDT
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Whole counties

County Pittsylvania County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:28 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
Jun 10, 9:15 AM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Chatham, 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, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 43 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: 125 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 782 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 68 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 77 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KROA 101231
TORRNK
VAC143-101315-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
828 AM EDT MON JUN 10 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG VA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA

   ...PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY
 
AT 828 AM EDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY BLACKSBURG
DOPPLER RADAR 10 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF MARTINSVILLE OR 5 MILES
NORTH NORTHWEST OF CASCADE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 34 MPH.

THE TORNADO WILL BE IN THE VICINITY OF...
 SANDY RIVER                     AROUND 838 AM EDT
 SWANSONVILLE                    AROUND 843 AM EDT
 CALLANDS                        AROUND 851 AM EDT

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OFA
TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO STURDY
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEKH SAFETY IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

DESROSIERS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 10, 12:27 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Montgomery	118 min
Jun 10, 2:15 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Floyd, Montgomery	3 hr
Jun 10, 8:10 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Roanoke, City of Salem	4 hr
Jun 10, 8:10 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	City of Roanoke	4 hr
Jun 10, 8:15 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Henry	65 min
Jun 10, 8:19 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Henry	31 min
Jun 10, 8:43 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Henry, City of Martinsville	3 hr
Jun 10, 9:13 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Pittsylvania	47 min
Jun 10, 10:01 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Pittsylvania	34 min
Jun 10, 10:04 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Campbell	61 min
Jun 10, 10:16 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Campbell	59 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes 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.