Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 104, NWS Charleston, WV

July 28, 1997Putnam County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 28, 1997, 5:38 PM EDT for Putnam County, West Virginia. It was in force for 67 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: Jul 28, 1997, 5:38 PM EDT (21:38 UTC)
Expired: Jul 28, 1997, 6:45 PM EDT
In force: 67 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, WV
Area: Whole counties

County Putnam County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:39 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
Jul 28, 6:00 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Hurricane, WV

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jul 28, 4:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 193 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: 985 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -78 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1187 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 65 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 KCRW 282139 RRA
SVRCRW
WVC079-282245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
538 PM EDT MON JUL 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN WEST CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...PUTNAM COUNTY
 
AT 537 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ABOUT TO MOVE INTO THE
WESTERN SECTIONS OF PUTNAM COUNTY. DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL ARE POSSIBLE
WITH THIS STORM AS IT MOVES TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.
 
<< CALL TO ACTION >> THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS
PATH YOU SHOULD PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH.F..
LARGE HAIL...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A S
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
 
END/JAP

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 28, 2:57 PM EDT, 2 hours 41 minutes before

OHZ076-282000-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
257 PM EDT MON JUL 28 1997

RADAR INDICATES STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WESTERN...CENTRAL...
AND EASTERN PORTIONS OF WASHINGTON COUNTY. THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE
OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL..WINDS GUSTING TO 40 MPH...AND BRIEF HEAVY
RAINS WHICH CAUSE MINOR DRAINAGE PROBLEMS....ESPECIALLY ON AREA
ROADS.

END/PACKETT

Special weather statement, Jul 28, 3:01 PM EDT, 2 hours 37 minutes before

OHZ076-282000-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
257 PM EDT MON JUL 28 1997

RADAR INDICATES STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WESTERN...CENTRAL...
AND EASTERN PORTIONS OF WASHIN GTON COUNTY. THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE
OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL..WINDS GUSTING TO 40 MPH...AND BRIEF HEAVY
RAINS WHICH CAUSE MINOR DRAINAGE PROBLEMS....ESPECIALLY ON AREA
ROADS.

END/PACKETT

Local storm report, Jul 28, 4:58 PM EDT, 40 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA
458 PM EDT MON JUL 28 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0300 PM    MARIETTA                  OH   WIND DAMAGE
07/28/97   WASHINGTON                     SEVERAL TREES AND POWER
                                          LINES DOWN NEAR MARIETTA

0335 PM    ROCKPORT                  WV   WIND DAMAGE
07/28/97   WOOD                           TREES DOWN ON RT 2... 1/2
                                          MI NORTH OF JACKSON COUNTY
                                          BORDER

Local storm report, Jul 28, 4:59 PM EDT, 39 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA
458 PM EDT MON JUL 28 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0300 PM    MARIETTA                  OH   WIND DAMAGE
07/28/97   WASHINGTON                     SEVERAL TREES AND POWER
                                          LINES DOWN NEAR MARIETTA

0335 PM    ROCKPORT                  WV   WIND DAMAGE
07/28/97   WOOD                           TREES DOWN ON RT 2... 1/2
                                          MI NORTH OF JACKSON COUNTY
                                          BORDER

The office that day

Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 27, 8:18 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RLX	Wood	3 hr
Jul 27, 8:24 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RLX	Wood	3 hr
Jul 27, 9:04 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Jackson	26 min
Jul 27, 9:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Jackson	24 min
Jul 27, 9:48 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Roane	42 min
Jul 27, 10:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Kanawha	39 min
Jul 27, 10:54 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Webster	36 min
Jul 28, 3:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Tyler	45 min
Jul 28, 3:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Pleasants	27 min
Jul 28, 3:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Wood	33 min
Jul 28, 3:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Ritchie	49 min
Jul 28, 3:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Harrison	46 min
Jul 28, 4:39 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Wirt	36 min
Jul 28, 4:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Mason	38 min
Jul 28, 4:58 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Gilmer	47 min
Jul 28, 5:08 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Jackson	52 min
Jul 28, 5:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Cabell	45 min
Jul 28, 6:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Kanawha	54 min
Jul 28, 6:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Kanawha	45 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in West Virginia, 1997 Every 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.