Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 48, NWS Charleston, WV

June 13, 1997Buchanan County, Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 13, 1997, 6:46 PM EDT for Buchanan County, Virginia. It was in force for 14 min. 2 reports 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 13, 1997, 6:46 PM EDT (22:46 UTC)
Expired
Jun 13, 1997, 7:00 PM EDT
In force
14 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Buchanan County, VA

The radar

The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 118 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:50 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 13, 6:53 PM EDTThunderstorm WindOakwood, VASeveral trees were knocked down.
Jun 13, 6:58 PM EDTThunderstorm WindPrater, VAFallen trees blocked Route 83.

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, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 225 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1997-06-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 94 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1997-06-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 68 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
94 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-78 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
802 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
68 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
27 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCRW 132249
SVRCRW
VAC027-132300-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
646 PM EDT FRI JUN 13 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...EASTERN BUCHANAN COUNTY
 
AT 642 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
OVER EASTERN BUCHANAN COUNTY NEAR OAKWOOD. THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS
TRACKING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.  IT WILL FOLLOW ROUTE 460.
 
 
<< CALL TO ACTION >> IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER
FROM THE WEATHER IN A STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL
...VERY HEAVY RAIN...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS. STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS
PASSED.

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, Jun 13, 4:51 PM EDT, 1 hour 55 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
451 PM EDT FRI JUN 13 1997

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

0425 PM    MIAMI                     WV   .75 INCH HAIL
06/13/97   KANAWHA                        DIME SIZE HAIL.

0431 PM    POWELLTON                 WV   .75 INCH HAIL
06/13/97   FAYETTE                        DIME SIZE HAIL.

0431 PM    MCDUNN                    WV   .75 INCH HAIL
06/13/97   FAYETTE                        DIME SIZE HAIL

0431 PM    MCDUNN                    WV   WIND DAMAGE
06/13/97   FAYETTE                        TREES DOWN IN THE TOWN OF
                                          MCDUNN.
Local storm report, Jun 13, 4:55 PM EDT, 1 hour 51 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
451 PM EDT FRI JUN 13 1997

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

0425 PM    MIAMI                     WV   .75 INCH HAIL
06/13/97   KANAWHA                        DIME SIZE HAIL.

0431 PM    POWELLTON                 WV   .75 INCH HAIL
06/13/97   FAYETTE                        DIME SIZE HAIL.

0431 PM    MCDUNN                    WV   .75 INCH HAIL
06/13/97   FAYETTE                        DIME SIZE HAIL

0431 PM    MCDUNN                    WV   WIND DAMAGE
06/13/97   FAYETTE                        TREES DOWN IN THE TOWN OF
                                          MCDUNN.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 13, 6:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXDickenson44 min
Jun 13, 7:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXBuchanan31 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.