Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Wakefield, VA

May 2, 2002Mecklenburg County, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at May 2, 2002, 3:49 PM EDT for Mecklenburg County, Virginia. It was in force for 31 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 2, 2002, 3:49 PM EDT (19:49 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 2002, 4:20 PM EDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Mecklenburg County, VA

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:48 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
May 2, 4:11 PM EDTHail 1.75Boydton, 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 2, 2:45 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 116 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 2002-05-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 317 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 2002-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 382 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
317 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-54 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
667 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
68 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
382 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
418 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS51 KAKQ 021949
TORAKQ
VAC117-022020-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
349 PM EDT THU MAY 2 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WAKEFIELD HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 420 PM EDT

* AT 349 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING
  A TORNADO 8 MILES WEST OF SPANISH GROVE...MOVING EAST AT 60 MPH.

* THE STORM PRODUCING THE TORNADO WILL REACH...
  SPANISH GROVE AROUND 350 PM
  SKIPWITH AND ROGERS CORNER AROUND 355 PM
  BOYDTON AROUND 400 PM
  BASKERVILLE AND JOHN H KERR DAM AROUND 405 PM
  BEECHWOOD AND PALMER SPRINGS AROUND 410 PM
  BRACEY AND LA CROSSE AROUND 415 PM

IF YOU ARE IN A MOBILE HOME...ABANDON IT AND GO TO A NEARBY STURDY
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD

$$

REILLY
&&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 3:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCumberland, Nottoway, Prince Edward31 min
May 2, 3:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCharlotte28 min
May 2, 3:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQMecklenburg38 min
May 2, 3:45 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQAmelia, Nottoway15 min
May 2, 4:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQAmelia, Dinwiddie20 min
May 2, 4:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQPrince George, Sussex, City of Colonial Heights, City of Petersburg30 min
May 2, 4:20 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQBrunswick, Mecklenburg40 min
May 2, 4:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCharles City21 min
May 2, 4:36 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQCharles City, Prince George19 min
May 2, 4:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQGreensville, Surry, City of Emporia20 min
May 2, 4:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQGloucester, James City, York, City of Williamsburg29 min
May 2, 4:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQSouthampton30 min
May 2, 5:10 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ50 min
May 2, 5:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQIsle of Wight41 min
May 2, 5:15 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ90 min
May 2, 5:15 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ90 min
May 2, 5:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCity of Hampton, City of Newport News, City of Poquoson15 min
May 2, 5:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQNorthampton20 min
May 2, 5:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQMecklenburg40 min
May 2, 5:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCity of Chesapeake, City of Portsmouth15 min
May 2, 5:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCity of Chesapeake, City of Virginia Beach32 min
May 2, 6:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQBrunswick, Mecklenburg31 min
May 2, 6:20 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ55 min
May 2, 6:20 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ55 min
May 2, 6:20 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ55 min
May 2, 6:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQBrunswick, Greensville28 min
May 2, 7:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQSouthampton39 min
May 2, 7:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQBrunswick19 min
May 2, 7:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQGreensville, City of Emporia29 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes in 2002

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.