Alert archive / West Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Charleston, WV

September 20, 2000Mason County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this tornado warning at Sep 20, 2000, 11:08 PM EDT for Mason County, West Virginia. It was in force for 37 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: Sep 20, 2000, 11:08 PM EDT (03:08 UTC)
Expired: Sep 20, 2000, 11:45 PM EDT
In force: 37 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, WV
Area: Whole counties

County Mason County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:09 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
Sep 20, 11:12 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52 E	New Haven, WV	A wind gust was estimated at 60 mph.

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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Sep 20, 8:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 00:00Z, 3.1 hours before the alert went out and 170 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: 579 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1294 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 73 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 628 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 807 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.4
Supercell composite: 15.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WFUS51 KRLX 210309
TORCRW

WVC053-210345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
1108 PM EDT WED SEP 20 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN MASON COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA...

* UNTIL 1145 PM EDT...

* AT 1104 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A STORM
  CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR CHESHIRE...OR ABOUT 6 MILES
  NORTH OF POINT PLEASANT...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING AREA INCLUDE NEW HAVEN.

<<CALL TO ACTION>>IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A
NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A
CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

PLEASE REPORT HAIL OR STRONG WINDS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY
CALLING TOLL FREE...877-633-6772.

$$

LAT...LON 3885 8214 3886 8192 3894 8190 3898 8194
          3901 8204

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 20, 11:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Tyler	47 min
Sep 20, 11:46 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Ritchie, Wirt	44 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in West Virginia, 2000 Every tornado warning in 2000 Tornadoes in 2000

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.