Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Blacksburg, VA

June 13, 1998Halifax County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at Jun 13, 1998, 2:46 PM EDT for Halifax County, Virginia. It was in force for 34 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 13, 1998, 2:46 PM EDT (18:46 UTC)
Expired
Jun 13, 1998, 3:20 PM EDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Halifax County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 122 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:47 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 13, 1:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 69 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 12:00Z on 1998-06-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1998-06-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 157 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-132 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1078 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
157 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
197 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.

502 
WFUS01 KRNK 131847 RRA
TORRNK
VAC083-131920-

BULLETIN--EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
246 PM EDT SAT JUN 13 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  HALIFAX COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA.

* UNTIL 320 PM EDT.

* AT 245 PM EDT... BLACKSBURG DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 34
  MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF DANVILLE OR 2 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF
  SCOTTSBURG MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE IN THE VICINITY OF...
  SCOTTSBURG                      AROUND 250 PM EDT..
  DRYBURG                         AROUND 305 PM EDT..

<< CALL TO ACTION >> IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO...THE
SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF
STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SAFETY IN AN
INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS..
. PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.

.END/SPN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 13, 1:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKBath48 min
Jun 13, 2:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKHalifax49 min
Jun 13, 2:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKCharlotte34 min
Jun 13, 3:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKBuckingham37 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.