Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 2002
Tornado Warning 8, NWS Wakefield, VA
NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at May 2, 2002, 4:36 PM EDT for Charles City County, Prince George 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
- May 2, 2002, 4:36 PM EDT (20:36 UTC)
- Expired
- May 2, 2002, 4:55 PM EDT
- In force
- 19 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wakefield, VA
- Area
- Whole counties
The radar
The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 34 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:37 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 4:45 PM EDT | Tornado F0 | Burrowsville, VA | Numerous trees down. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 2:45 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 12 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -90 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 540 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 82 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 408 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 464 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS51 KAKQ 022036 TORAKQ VAC036-149-022055- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 436 PM EDT THU MAY 2 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WAKEFIELD HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... CHARLES CITY COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL VIRGINIA PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA * UNTIL 455 PM EDT * AT 436 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO OVER JORDANS POINT... MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH. * THE STORM PRODUCING THE TORNADO WILL REACH... NEW HOPE AND CHARLES CITY AROUND 440 PM BRANDON AND TAYLORS CORNER AROUND 445 PM RUSTIC AND HOLDCROFT AROUND 450 PM TAKE COVER IN A BASEMENT OR AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED FOR STURDIER SHELTER. $$ NS && LAT...LON 3740 7727 3722 7729 3720 7701 3736 7687
The office that day
Everything else NWS Wakefield, VA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 3:34 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Cumberland, Nottoway, Prince Edward | 31 min |
| May 2, 3:37 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Charlotte | 28 min |
| May 2, 3:37 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Mecklenburg | 38 min |
| May 2, 3:45 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Amelia, Nottoway | 15 min |
| May 2, 3:49 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Mecklenburg | 31 min |
| May 2, 4:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Amelia, Dinwiddie | 20 min |
| May 2, 4:20 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Prince George, Sussex, City of Colonial Heights, City of Petersburg | 30 min |
| May 2, 4:20 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Brunswick, Mecklenburg | 40 min |
| May 2, 4:34 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Charles City | 21 min |
| May 2, 4:40 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Greensville, Surry, City of Emporia | 20 min |
| May 2, 4:46 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Gloucester, James City, York, City of Williamsburg | 29 min |
| May 2, 4:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Southampton | 30 min |
| May 2, 5:10 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | AKQ | 50 min | |
| May 2, 5:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Isle of Wight | 41 min |
| May 2, 5:15 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | AKQ | 90 min | |
| May 2, 5:15 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | AKQ | 90 min | |
| May 2, 5:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | City of Hampton, City of Newport News, City of Poquoson | 15 min |
| May 2, 5:25 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Northampton | 20 min |
| May 2, 5:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Mecklenburg | 40 min |
| May 2, 5:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | City of Chesapeake, City of Portsmouth | 15 min |
| May 2, 5:58 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | City of Chesapeake, City of Virginia Beach | 32 min |
| May 2, 6:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Brunswick, Mecklenburg | 31 min |
| May 2, 6:20 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | AKQ | 55 min | |
| May 2, 6:20 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | AKQ | 55 min | |
| May 2, 6:20 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | AKQ | 55 min | |
| May 2, 6:42 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Brunswick, Greensville | 28 min |
| May 2, 7:16 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Southampton | 39 min |
| May 2, 7:46 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Brunswick | 19 min |
| May 2, 7:56 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Greensville, City of Emporia | 29 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.