Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 494

June 2, 199829 counties in North Carolina; 59 counties in Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 2, 1998, 5:45 PM EDT for 29 counties in North Carolina; 59 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 2, 1998, 5:45 PM EDT (21:45 UTC)
Expired
Jun 3, 1998, 12:00 AM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 88 counties

Alamance County, NC, Alexander County, NC, Alleghany County, NC, Ashe County, NC, Avery County, NC, Burke County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Catawba County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Davie County, NC, Durham County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Granville County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Iredell County, NC, McDowell County, NC, Orange County, NC, Person County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Stokes County, NC, Surry County, NC, Vance County, NC, Watauga County, NC, Wilkes County, NC, Yadkin County, NC, Albemarle County, VA, Alleghany County, VA, Amelia County, VA, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Botetourt County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Carroll County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Charlottesville, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Covington, VA, City of Danville, VA, City of Galax, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Lexington, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Radford, VA, City of Richmond, VA, City of Roanoke, VA, City of Salem, VA, Craig County, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Floyd County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Franklin County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Grayson County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Henry County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King William County, VA, Louisa County, VA, Lunenburg County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA, Montgomery County, VA, Nelson County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Patrick County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Pulaski County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Roanoke County, VA, Rockbridge County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:45 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.

Warnings issued inside it

16 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 2, 5:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKGrayson37 min
Jun 2, 6:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKFloyd34 min
Jun 2, 6:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKFranklin36 min
Jun 2, 6:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKHenry, City of Martinsville48 min
Jun 2, 6:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKMontgomery64 min
Jun 2, 6:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKRockingham65 min
Jun 2, 6:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKMontgomery2 hr
Jun 2, 6:58 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKHenry, City of Martinsville32 min
Jun 2, 7:00 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKRockingham35 min
Jun 2, 7:18 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKFloyd62 min
Jun 2, 7:23 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKRockingham112 min
Jun 2, 7:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAlamance46 min
Jun 2, 7:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKWatauga49 min
Jun 2, 7:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKPulaski, City of Radford31 min
Jun 2, 7:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCaldwell34 min
Jun 2, 8:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham, Orange47 min

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 56 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 1998-06-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 252 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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 1998-06-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 97 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
252 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-182 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1079 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
97 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
205 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 2, 5:30 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBuncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson and 6 more6 hr
Jun 2, 3:10 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlleghany, Bath, Bland, Buchanan, Craig, Dickenson and 14 more6 hr
Jun 2, 6:45 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCArlington, Augusta, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier and 23 more6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Virginia, 1998Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 1998Every tornado watch 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.