Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 95, NWS Charleston, WV

July 28, 1997Ritchie County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 28, 1997, 3:56 PM EDT for Ritchie County, West Virginia. It was in force for 49 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
Jul 28, 1997, 3:56 PM EDT (19:56 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1997, 4:45 PM EDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Ritchie County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:59 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 28, 4:40 PM EDTThunderstorm WindPullman, 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 160 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 1997-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 448 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 1997-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 70 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
448 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
813 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
70 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
84 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 281958 RRA
SVRCRW
WVC085-282045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
356 PM EDT MON JUL 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN NORTHWEST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...RITCHIE COUNTY
 
AT 355 PM RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO THE NORTHERN
AND WESTERN PORTIONS OF RITCHIE COUNTY. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE
SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
 
<< 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.
 
END/JAP

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 28, 2:57 PM EDT, 59 minutes before
OHZ076-282000-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
257 PM EDT MON JUL 28 1997

RADAR INDICATES STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WESTERN...CENTRAL...
AND EASTERN PORTIONS OF WASHINGTON COUNTY. THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE
OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL..WINDS GUSTING TO 40 MPH...AND BRIEF HEAVY
RAINS WHICH CAUSE MINOR DRAINAGE PROBLEMS....ESPECIALLY ON AREA
ROADS.

END/PACKETT
Special weather statement, Jul 28, 3:01 PM EDT, 55 minutes before
OHZ076-282000-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
257 PM EDT MON JUL 28 1997

RADAR INDICATES STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WESTERN...CENTRAL...
AND EASTERN PORTIONS OF WASHIN GTON COUNTY. THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE
OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL..WINDS GUSTING TO 40 MPH...AND BRIEF HEAVY
RAINS WHICH CAUSE MINOR DRAINAGE PROBLEMS....ESPECIALLY ON AREA
ROADS.

END/PACKETT

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 27, 10:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXWebster36 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, 3:59 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.