Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 22, NWS Wakefield, VA

May 1, 1997Mecklenburg County, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 1, 1997, 2:40 PM EDT for Mecklenburg County, Virginia. It was in force for 30 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 1, 1997, 2:40 PM EDT (18:40 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 1997, 3:10 PM EDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Mecklenburg County, VA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 1, 2:45 PM EDTHail 2Boydton, 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 153 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1997-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1997-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 173 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
864 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
173 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
212 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

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 Wakefield, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 1, 2:25 PM EDT, 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 1, 2:25 PM EDT, 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
225 PM EDT THU MAY 1 1997

ATMOS DYNAMICALLY CHARGED FOR DVLPG TSTM ACTIVITY THIS PM. PC-BASED RUC
SFC DATA SHOWS STG THETA-E RIDGE OVR NORTHEAST NC PIEDMONT WITH BEST
PRES FALLS OVER SE VA. ADAP SHOWS LI -4 AND SFC MOIST CONV MAXIMA SW OF
FA. DECENT JET COUPLET WILL CROSS REGION LATE THIS AFTN. DVLPG LN OF
CNVTN NOW OVR FAR WRN FA SHUD INTENSIFY AS IT MOVES FROM PIEDMONT INTO
MORE UNSTABLE AIR EAST OF I-95. LTST 88D VWP SHOWS UNIDIRECTIONAL WINDS
BUT GUD SPEED SHEAR...CONDUCIVE TO BOW ECHO DEVELOPMENT WITH STG WINDS A
PSBLTY.

UPR TROF MVS OFFSHORE TNT. BRIEF FLIRT OF POST-FRONTAL CAA WILL KP WINDS
UP INTO THE EVENING HOURS THEN DIMINISHING AS SFC HIGH MVS CLSR TO FA
TWD MORNING. MSTLY CLR NGT WITH SEASONABLE LOW TEMPS.

FLAT UPR RIDGE WITH RISING HEIGHTS ON FRI MEANS A FINE DAY ON TAP.
MSTLY SUNNY WITH TEMPS NR NORM...WUD LEAN A LTL HIGHER THAN GUID FOR
INTERIOR WITH STG MAY NR FULL SUN. LGT PRES GRAD AS SFC HI PASSES OVHD
MEANS C-BRZ WL KP IT COOLER NR CST.

ANTHR SHARP UPR TROF DIGS INTO MS VLY FRI NT AND SAT. WAA/OVERRUNNING
PATN SETTING UP LATE FRI NGT WITH CHC SPOTTY -DZ/-RA B4 SUNRISE AND
INTO EARLY SAT AM.

STRONG THETA-E RDG SHIFTS TO FA SAT PM WITH DECENT LOW LVL JET. ANTHR
CONVECTIVE AFTN PSBL WITH ANY SUN ADDING TO INSTABILITY. ANTHR WARM
HUMID DAY NONETHELESS WITH GUD CHC AFTN SHRA/TSRA.

CWF: MAY NEED TO KP SCA UP EARLY TNT IN BRIEF CAA EVENT.

RIC...47/74/54/78  0037
ORF...53/67/56/80  1026
SBY...45/70/50/75  1026
ECG...51/70/55/79  2025

CULLEN

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 1, 11:30 AM EDT, 3 hours 10 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 1, 11:36 AM EDT, 3 hours 4 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 2:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQLunenburg35 min
May 1, 3:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQBrunswick, Dinwiddie38 min
May 1, 3:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQGreensville26 min
May 1, 3:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQPrince George, City of Petersburg45 min
May 1, 3:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQSussex45 min
May 1, 3:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQBrunswick, Mecklenburg32 min
May 1, 3:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQSurry25 min
May 1, 3:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQNorthumberland17 min
May 1, 4:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQIsle of Wight39 min
May 1, 4:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQBrunswick, Greensville19 min
May 1, 4:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQJames City, York, City of Newport News, City of Williamsburg26 min
May 1, 4:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCity of Hampton, City of Newport News29 min
May 1, 4:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCity of Poquoson29 min
May 1, 4:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQGloucester, Mathews39 min
May 1, 4:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQSouthampton, Sussex29 min
May 1, 4:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQNorthampton27 min
May 1, 5:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQIsle of Wight, City of Suffolk28 min
May 1, 5:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCity of Norfolk, City of Portsmouth, City of Virginia Beach32 min
May 1, 5:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQIsle of Wight, City of Suffolk29 min
May 1, 6:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCity of Chesapeake, City of Norfolk, City of Portsmouth, City of Virginia Beach38 min
May 1, 5:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQNorthampton37 min
May 1, 6:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQGates, Hertford33 min
May 1, 6:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQBertie41 min
May 1, 6:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQGates18 min
May 1, 4:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQSomerset31 min
May 1, 4:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQWorcester43 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997

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.