Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Wakefield, VA

July 24, 1997Northampton County, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at Jul 24, 1997, 2:08 PM EDT for Northampton County, Virginia. It was in force for 37 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
Jul 24, 1997, 2:08 PM EDT (18:08 UTC)
Expired
Jul 24, 1997, 2:45 PM EDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Northampton County, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:08 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

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 84 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1048 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 19 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
1048 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
442 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
14 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAKQ 241807 RRA
TORAKQ
MDZ501-VAC131-241845-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
208 PM EDT THU JUL 24 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WAKEFIELD VA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 245 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EASTERN VIRGINIA

   ...NORTHAMPTON COUNTY

AND ADJACENT PORTIONS OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY
 
...AT 205 PM...RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO NEAR WRECK
ISLAND IN THE SOUTHEAST PART OF NORTHAMPTON COUTNY.  THE STORM IS
ROTATING WESTWARD AROUND 20 MPH AND WILL MOVE ACROSS THE BIRDSNEST
AND SILVER BEACH AREAS THROUGH 230 PM.
 
PEOPLE IN THE PROJECTED PATH OF THE TORNADO SHOULD TAKE SHELTER
IMMEDIATELY.  MOVE INSIDE A STORM CELLAR...A BASEMENT...OR A SMALL
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOUSE.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS AFTER
THE STORM HAS PASSED AND ASK THEM TO RELAY YOUR INFORMATION TO TdHE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

SAMMLER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 24, 1:19 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQCity of Chesapeake, City of Norfolk31 min
Jul 24, 1:21 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQIsle of Wight, City of Suffolk34 min
Jul 24, 2:00 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQCity of Virginia Beach35 min
Jul 24, 2:27 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQCity of Virginia Beach33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.