Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 11, NWS Charleston, WV

February 17, 1998Dickenson County, Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 17, 1998, 11:55 AM EST for Dickenson County, Virginia. It was in force for 35 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: Feb 17, 1998, 11:55 AM EST (16:55 UTC)
Expired: Feb 17, 1998, 12:30 PM EST
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, WV
Area: Whole counties

County Dickenson County, VA

The radar

The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 100 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:54 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Feb 17, 12:06 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Trammel, VA	Trees were blown down along the McClure River and Buffalo Creek valleys. This affected Route 63.

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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 248 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 593 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 88 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 456 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.

672 
WUUS1 KCRW 171656 RRA
SVRCRW
VAC051-171730-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
1155 AM EST TUE FEB 17 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1230 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...DICKENSON COUNTY
 
AT 1150 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
IN SOUTHERN DICKENSON COUNTY. THIS STORM WILL TRACK NORTHWARD TOWARDS
NORA AND WILL REACH THERE BY NOON. THE STORM WILL REACH THE NORTHERN END
OF THE COUNTY BY 1215 PM.
 
 
 
<< 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
SHELTER...PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 17, 12:13 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Buchanan	32 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 1998 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

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.