Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 89, NWS Charleston, WV

July 27, 1997Webster County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 27, 1997, 10:54 PM EDT for Webster County, West Virginia. It was in force for 36 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 27, 1997, 10:54 PM EDT (02:54 UTC)
Expired
Jul 27, 1997, 11:30 PM EDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Webster County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 115 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:11 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 27, 11:15 PM EDTThunderstorm WindBolair, WVFallen trees cut power lines on MIller Mountain.
Jul 27, 11:20 PM EDTThunderstorm WindCowen, WVMinor roof damage occurred to residents in town.

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 00:00Z, 2.9 hours before the alert went out and 165 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 00:00Z on 1997-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3258 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1997-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 60 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
3258 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1088 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
60 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
155 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 280256 RRA
SVRCRW
WVC101-280330-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
1054 PM EDT SUN JUL 27 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1130 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...WEBSTER COUNTY
 
RADAR SHOWS A THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG WINDS AND POSSIBLY LARGE HAIL
MOVING EASTWARD THROUGH THE COUNTY. THIS STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH OR NEAR
WEBSTER SPRINGS.
 
<< 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
STORM HAS PASSED. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS

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 27, 7:57 PM EDT, 2 hours 57 minutes before
OHZ084-280020-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
757 PM EDT SUN JUL 27 1997

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL BE MOVING THROUGH VINTON COUNTY UNTIL
720 PM...

A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL BE MOVING THROUGH VINTON COUNTY OHIO
UNTIL AROUND 720 PM.  THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE SOME STRONG WINDS AND
HEAVY RAINS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES.  THIS WILL CAUSE SOME BRIEF DRAINAGE
PROBLEMS ON ROADWAYS.  PERSONS SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH
WATER CROSSING OVER ROADWAYS...ESPECIALLY NEAR STREAMS.

END/REZEK
Special weather statement, Jul 27, 8:02 PM EDT, 2 hours 52 minutes before
OHZ084-280020-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
757 PM EDT SUN JUL 27 1997

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL BE MOVING THROUGH VINTON COUNTY UNTIL
720 PM...

A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL BE MOVING THROUGH VINTON COUNTY OHIO
UNTIL AROUND 720 PM.  THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE SOME STRONG WINDS AND
HEAVY RAINS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES.  THIS WILL CAUSE SOME BRIEF DRAINAGE
PROBLEMS ON ROADWAYS.  PERSONS SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THdROUGH
WATER CROSSING OVER ROADWAYS...ESPECIALLY NEAR STREAMS.

END/REZEK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 27, 8:18 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXWood3 hr
Jul 27, 8:24 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXWood3 hr
Jul 27, 9:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXJackson26 min
Jul 27, 9:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXJackson24 min
Jul 27, 9:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXRoane42 min
Jul 27, 10:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXKanawha39 min
Jul 28, 3:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXTyler45 min
Jul 28, 3:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXPleasants27 min
Jul 28, 3:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXWood33 min
Jul 28, 3:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXRitchie49 min
Jul 28, 3:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXHarrison46 min
Jul 28, 4:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXWirt36 min
Jul 28, 4:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXMason38 min
Jul 28, 4:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXGilmer47 min
Jul 28, 5:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXJackson52 min
Jul 28, 5:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXCabell45 min
Jul 28, 5:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXPutnam67 min
Jul 28, 6:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXKanawha54 min
Jul 28, 6:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXKanawha45 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.