Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 81, NWS Charleston, WV

July 22, 1997Lincoln County, Wayne County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 22, 1997, 2:16 PM EDT for Lincoln County, Wayne County, West Virginia. It was in force for 59 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
Jul 22, 1997, 2:16 PM EDT (18:16 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 1997, 3:15 PM EDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lincoln County, WV, Wayne County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 49 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:17 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
Jul 22, 2:30 PM EDTThunderstorm WindCrockett, WVTrees were knocked down along Routes 17 and 75.
Jul 22, 2:45 PM EDTHail 0.75West Hamlin, 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 nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 195 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 1997-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 869 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 1997-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 109 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
869 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-62 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
619 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
109 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
156 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 221816 RRA
SVRCRW
WVC043-099-221915-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
216 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...S...
 
IN WEST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...WESTERN LINCOLN COUNTY...WAYNE COUNTY
 
WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATES TWO ROTATING THUNDERSTORMS MERGING OVER
WAYNE COUNTY WV. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS THEN EXPECTED TO SPREAD INTO
WESTERN LINCOLN COUNTY WV. STORMS ARE MOVING EAST 5 TO 10 MPH. LOCALLY
DAMAGING WIND CAN BE EXPECTED. LARGE DESTRUCTIVE HAIL IS POSSIBLE.
 
THE STORMS ARE UNUSUALLY ELECTRICAL...WITH 20 TO 25 CLOUD-TO-GROUND HITS
OF LIGHTNING EVERY MINUTE.  THE SLOW MOVING STORMS COULD DUMP UP TO
THREE INCHES OF RAIN WITHIN AN HOUR IN SOME AREAS.
 
<< 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...
LARGE HAIL...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A S
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
 
.END

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 22, 2:36 PM EDTTornado WarningRLXWayne24 min
Jul 22, 2:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXPutnam50 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.