Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 51, NWS Charleston, WV

June 18, 1997Taylor County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 18, 1997, 2:20 PM EDT for Taylor County, West Virginia. It was in force for 25 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
Jun 18, 1997, 2:20 PM EDT (18:20 UTC)
Expired
Jun 18, 1997, 2:45 PM EDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Taylor County, WV

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 18, 2:25 PM EDTThunderstorm WindGrafton, WVMany large tree branches were blown down, near the Marion County line and Valley Falls State Park.

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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 120 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1997-06-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 386 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1997-06-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 234 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
386 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-34 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
715 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
234 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
260 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCRW 181820 RRA
SVRCRW
WVC091-181845-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
220 PM EDT WED JUN 18 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...TAYLOR COUNTY
 
AT 218 PM RADAAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER WESTERN TAYLOR
COUNTY NEAR GRAFTON MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THIS STORM WILL
TRACK ACROSS VALLEY FALLS STATE PARK.
 
<< CALL TO ACTION >> WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD
MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE
TELEPHONES. OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
 
 
JAP

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 18, 1:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXHarrison39 min
Jun 18, 2:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXRoane29 min
Jun 18, 2:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXWirt39 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in West 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.