Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 144, NWS Charleston, WV

August 17, 1997Randolph County, Upshur County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 17, 1997, 5:17 PM EDT for Randolph County, Upshur County, West Virginia. It was in force for 58 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: Aug 17, 1997, 5:17 PM EDT (21:17 UTC)
Expired: Aug 17, 1997, 6:15 PM EDT
In force: 58 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, WV
Area: Whole counties

Counties Randolph County, WV, Upshur County, WV

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Aug 17, 6:00 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Pickens, WV	Several trees and large branches were downed in the Kumbrabow State Forest and along Turkeybone Mountain Road.

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
Aug 17, 1:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	7 hr
Aug 17, 4:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 175 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 901 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 70 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 221 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 172118 RRA
SVRCRW
WVC097-083-172215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
517 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...S...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...UPSHUR COUNTY
 
IN NORTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...RANDOLPH COUNTY
 
AT 515 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
OVER EASTERN WEBSTER COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHEAST AT
45 MILES AN HOUR. DAMAGING WINDS WILL ACCOMPANY THIS STORM AS IT MOVES
THROUGH RANDOLPH AND UPSHUR COUNTIES.
 
<< CALL TO ACTION >> SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND
IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND
VERY HEAVY RAIN.FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON
THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS
QUICKLY SO DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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

Local storm report, Aug 17, 4:36 PM EDT, 41 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA
438 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 1997

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

0115 PM    POMEROY                   OH   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/97   MEIGS                          NUMEROUS TREES DOWNED FROM
                                          CHESTER...TO POMEROY AND
                                          RUTLAND. TREES DOWNED ON
                                          RTE 7 EAST IN MEIGS
                                          GOUNTY.

0310 PM    PROCTORVILLE              OH   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/97   LAWRENCE                       MANY DOWNED TREES...NUMBER
                                          DOWNED REPORTED IN THE
                                          HUNDREDS BY HAM RADIO
                                          SPOTTER...ALONG STATE
                                          ROUTE 775 NORTH OF
                                          PROCTORVILLE.

0330 PM    GREEN BOTTOM              WV   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/97   CABELL                         SEVERAL TREES AND BRANCHES
                                          DOWNED

0400 PM                              KY   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/97   BOYD                           SEVERAL TREES DOWNED 12
                                          MILES EAST OF
                                          GRAYSON...JUST OVER THE
                                          BOYD COUNTY LINE

Local storm report, Aug 17, 4:38 PM EDT, 39 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA
438 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 1997

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

0115 PM    POMEROY                   OH   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/97   MEIGS                          NUMEROUS TREES DOWNED FROM
                                          CHESTER...TO POMEROY AND
                                          RUTLAND. TREES DOWNED ON
                                          RTE 7 EAST IN MEIGS
                                          GOUNTY.

0310 PM    PROCTORVILLE              OH   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/97   LAWRENCE                       MANY DOWNED TREES...NUMBER
                                          DOWNED REPORTED IN THE
                                          HUNDREDS BY HAM RADIO
                                          SPOTTER...ALONG STATE
                                          ROUTE 775 NORTH OF
                                          PROCTORVILLE.

0330 PM    GREEN BOTTOM              WV   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/97   CABELL                         SEVERAL TREES AND BRANCHES
                                          DOWNED

0400 PM                              KY   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/97   BOYD                           SEVERAL TREES DOWNED 12
                                          MILES EAST OF
                                          GRAYSON...JUST OVER THE
                                          BOYD COUNTY LINE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 17, 1:48 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Wood	57 min
Aug 17, 2:01 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Mason	44 min
Aug 17, 2:16 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Jackson	44 min
Aug 17, 3:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Cabell	60 min
Aug 17, 3:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Mason, Putnam	66 min
Aug 17, 4:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Clay, Roane	49 min
Aug 17, 4:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Cabell, Mason	60 min
Aug 17, 4:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Wayne	60 min
Aug 17, 4:38 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Braxton	52 min
Aug 17, 4:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Jackson, Lincoln, Putnam	55 min
Aug 17, 4:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Webster	63 min
Aug 17, 4:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Kanawha	63 min
Aug 17, 5:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Clay, Nicholas	51 min
Aug 17, 5:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Raleigh	51 min
Aug 17, 6:08 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Boone	52 min
Aug 17, 6:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Wyoming	42 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.