Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 36, NWS Charleston, WV

May 7, 1998Dickenson County, Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 7, 1998, 5:38 PM EDT for Dickenson County, Virginia. It was in force for 67 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
May 7, 1998, 5:38 PM EDT (21:38 UTC)
Expired
May 7, 1998, 6:45 PM EDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Dickenson County, VA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 7, 5:45 PM EDTHail 0.75Clintwood, VA

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, 9.6 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1998-05-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 49 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1998-05-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 31 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
49 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
523 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
53 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.

630 
WUUS1 KCRW 072136 RRA
SVRCRW
VAC051-072245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
538 PM EDT THU MAY 7 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...DICKENSON COUNTY
 
AT 535 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
ENTERING WESTERN DICKENSON COUNTY IN THE JEFFERSON NATIONAL
FOREST. THIS STORM WAS TRACKING EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL
REACH CLINTWOOD AT 550 PM. LARGE HAIL WILL ACCOMPANY THE PASSAGE
OF THIS STORM.
 
<< CALL TO ACTION >> IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER
IN A STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN
...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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, May 7, 4:49 PM EDT, 49 minutes before
KYZ102-080000-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
449 PM EDT THU MAY 7 1998

HEAVY RAIN THIS AFTERNOON HAS CAUSED SIGNIFICANT RISES ON THE
STREAMS IN CARTER COUNTY KENTUCKY.  THE HEAVIEST RAIN HAS FALLEN
OVER THE SINKING CREEK BASIN IN SOUTH CENTRAL PARTS OF THE COUNTY.
STREAMS WILL LIKELY RISE TO NEAR BANKFULL CONDITIONS.

AS OF 445 PM...ONE BAND OF HEAVIER RAIN WAS PUSHING EAST OF THE
COUNTY.  THUS...A BREAK IN THE RAIN IS EXPECTED.  HOWEVER...ANOTHER
SHOWER OR THUNDERSTORM COULD PUSH THROUGH THE REGION THIS EVENING.

PEOPLE LIVING IN AREA...SHOULD MONITOR STREAM LEVELS...AND BE
PREPARED TO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IN CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED.

END/
Special weather statement, May 7, 4:49 PM EDT, 49 minutes before
KYZ102-080000-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
449 PM EDT THU MAY 7 1998

HEAVY RAIN THIS AFTERNOON HAS CAUSED SIGNIFICANT RISES ON THE
STREAMS IN CARTER COUNTY KENTUCKY.  THE HEAVIEST RAIN HAS FALLEN
OVER THE SINKING CREEK BASIN IN SOUTH CENTRAL PARTS OF THE COUNTY.
STREAMS WILL LIKELY RISE TO NEAR BANKFULL CONDITIONS.

AS OF 445 PM...ONE BAND OF HEAVIER RAIN WAS PUSHING EAST OF THE
COUNTY.  THUS...A BREAK IN THE RAIN IS EXPECTED.  HOWEVER...ANOTHER
SHOWER OR THUNDERSTORM COULD PUSH THROUGH THE REGION THIS EVENING.

PEOPLE LIVING IN AREA...SHOULD MONITOR STREAM LEVELS...AND BE
PREPARED TO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IN CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED.

END/

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 1998Every 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.