Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Wakefield, VA

August 11, 1999James City County, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at Aug 11, 1999, 7:36 PM EDT for James City County, Virginia. It was in force for 19 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
Aug 11, 1999, 7:36 PM EDT (23:36 UTC)
Expired
Aug 11, 1999, 7:55 PM EDT
In force
19 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Whole counties

County James City County, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:37 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
Aug 11, 7:40 PM EDTThunderstorm WindGrove, VARoof collapsed at apartment building.

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

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 139 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 1999-08-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1225 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 1999-08-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 217 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1225 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-45 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
725 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
217 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
265 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
7.6

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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Wakefield, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Aug 11, 3:25 PM EDT, 4 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 11, 3:25 PM EDT, 4 hours 11 minutes before
WAKEFIELD FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
325 PM EDT WED AUG 11 1999

RADAR NOW SHOWING FEW SHOWERS AND STORMS DEVLOPING OVER NORTHERN NECK
AND NE NC. STRONG TSTRMS HAVE PERSISTED OVER THE OFFSHORE WATERS OFF
THE EASTERN SHORE ALL DAY. SOME DRIER AIR HAS MIXED DOWN OVER INLAND
COUNTIES OVER THE COURSE OF THE DAY...WITH SFC DEWPTS NOW IN THE LOWER
TO MID 60S. MOST UNSTABLE AIR WAS OVER NE NC AND ERN VA AND MD...WITH
DEWPTS IN THE UPPER 70S.

WITH DRIER AIR OVER WRN COUNTIES...CHCS NOW RELATVIELY SLIM THERE FOR
ANY MAJOR DEVELOPMENT. WILL WAIT TIL LAST MINUTE TO LOOK AT RADAR TRENDS
TO SEE IF 20 POP NEEDED OVER INLAND COUNTIES FOR WIDELY SCT ACTIVITY
WITH LEE TROF. STILL CHANCE OF ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS OVER NE NC AND SE
VA IN MOIST UNSTABLE AMS...ALONG OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FM OFFSHORE
CONVECTION AND ALONG CU LINES/BOUNDARIES SHOWING UP ON VISIBLE IMAGERY.
WL THEREFORE CONTINUE TO CARRY CHC POPS INTO THE EVENING OVER ERN
SECTIONS.

MODELS NOW STALLING OUT SFC TROF AND WASHING IT OUT OVER CENTRAL VA
TONIGHT AND THU. THURS NOT MUCH DIFFERENT THAN TODAY WXWISE WITH LITTLE
OR NO AMS CHANGE. SLY WINDS PICK UP AGAIN BY FRI...WITH DEWPTS RISING
INTO THE 70S EVERYWHERE...AND TEMPS IN THE LOWER TO MID 90S. FWC/S HAVE
79 DEWPTS AT ECG ON FRI. CAN SEE HEAT INDICES APPROACHING 105 AND COULD
APPROACH HEAT ADVISORY CRITERIA SRN ZONES BY FRI. DESPITE HIGH
DEWPTS...LITTLE TO TRIGGER TSTRMS THU AND FRI AND WILL NOT MAKE ANY
MENTION OF POPS BEYOND THIS EVENING.

EXTENDED MODELS SUGGEST MORE SIGNIFICANT SHORT WAVE TO MOVE OVER AREA
SAT INTO SUN...SO COULD HAVE OUR BEST CHC OF SHOWERS AND TSTMS IN A
WHILE OVER THE WEEKEND.

CWF...BOUY 44009 CONTINUING TO SHOWING SCA THRESHOLDS MET FOR WINDS AND
SEAS. WL KEEP FLAGS FOR NRN ATLC WATERS FOR THE EVENING.

.AKQ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY...ATCL COASTAL WATERS FM FENWICK ISLAND DE
TO CAPE CHARLES LIGHT

REILLY

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 11, 5:00 PM EDT, 2 hours 36 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD, VA
500 PM EDT WED AUG 11 1999

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0435 PM    CHESAPEAKE                VA   1.75 INCH HAIL
08/11/99   CHESAPEAKE                     REPORTED IN THE GREENBRIER
                                          SECTION OF CHESAPEAKE

0435 PM    CHESAPEAKE                VA   WIND DAMAGE
08/11/99   CHESAPEAKE                     TREE FELL ON CAR IN
                                          GREENBRIER SECTION OF
                                          CHESAPEAKE

38
Local storm report, Aug 11, 5:27 PM EDT, 2 hours 9 minutes before
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Local storm report, Aug 11, 6:10 PM EDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before
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    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 11, 4:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCity of Chesapeake31 min
Aug 11, 4:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQMathews30 min
Aug 11, 5:04 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQMathews26 min
Aug 11, 6:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQKing and Queen29 min
Aug 11, 6:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQJames City32 min
Aug 11, 7:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQJames City, York, City of Williamsburg31 min
Aug 11, 7:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQSurry33 min
Aug 11, 4:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQGates36 min
Aug 11, 5:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQHertford20 min
Aug 11, 5:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQBertie30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999

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.