Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 37, NWS Morristown, TN

May 1, 2002Scott County, Wise County, City of Norton, Virginia

NWS Morristown, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 1, 2002, 9:47 PM EDT for Scott County, Wise County, City of Norton, Virginia. It was in force for 43 min. 3 reports 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 1, 2002, 9:47 PM EDT (01:47 UTC)
Expired: May 1, 2002, 10:30 PM EDT
In force: 43 min
Issued by: NWS Morristown, TN
Area: Whole counties

Counties City of Norton, VA, Scott County, VA, Wise County, VA

The radar

The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 101 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:50 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
May 1, 10:05 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Countywide, VA
May 1, 10:15 PM EDT	Hail 1.75	Big Stone Gap, VA
May 1, 10:40 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Hilton, 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 1, 4:45 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr
May 1, 9:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 259 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: 292 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -148 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1208 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 64 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS54 KMRX 020147
SVRMRX
VAC169-195-720-020230-
/NEW.KMRX.SV.W.0055.020146-020230/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
946 PM EDT WED MAY 1 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  CITY OF NORTON IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
  SCOTT COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
  WISE COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 1030 PM EDT

* AT 937 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 12 MILES WEST OF BIG STONE GAP...OR 10 MILES
  SOUTH OF CUMBERLAND...MOVING EAST AT 60 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  FORT BLACKMORE AROUND 1000 PM EDT
  HILTONS AROUND 1010 PM EDT

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING...
  WINDS UP TO 70 MPH...WHICH COULD PUSH OVER SHALLOW ROOTED TREES...
  AND DAMAGE CHIMNEYS AND TV ANTENNAS.
  HAIL UP TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...OR THE SIZE OF QUARTERS.
  VERY HEAVY RAINFALL WHICH MAY CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOODING.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT. REMEMBER...TORNADOES CAN AND
OCCASIONALLY DO DEVELOP RAPIDLY IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. IF
THREATENING WEATHER IS OBSERVED...MOVE TO SAFE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
$$

LAT...LON 3690 8289 3680 8276 3661 8297 3661 8229
          3689 8242 3692 8230 3703 8249 3720 8256
          3699 8283

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 1, 8:55 PM EDT, 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 1, 8:55 PM EDT, 52 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
855 PM EDT WED MAY 1 2002

CURRENT SURFACE ANALYSIS INDICATES A WARM FRONT LOCATED ACROSS THE
OHIO VALLEY...STRETCHING SOUTHEAST ALONG EASTERN KY INTO SOUTHWEST
VA. SEVERE SUPERCELL TSTORMS CONTINUE TO MOVE SOUTHEAST ACROSS
EASTERN KY...GENERALLY AHEAD OF THIS WARM FRONT. NUMEROUS REPORTS OF
EXTREMELY LARGE HAIL (UP TO SOFTBALL SIZE HAIL) AND DAMAGING WINDS
HAVE OCCURRED WITH THIS SUPERCELL. AIRMASS ACROSS SOUTHWEST VA AND
NORTHEAST TN REMAINS UNSTABLE...SO EXPECT THESE STORMS TO REMAIN
SEVERE FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS AS THEY CONTINUE TO MOVE SOUTHEAST
TOWARD THE SOUTHWEST VA AND NORTHEAST TN AREAS.

OTHERWISE...THINK THAT THE CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND TSTORMS ACROSS
THE REST OF THE FORECAST AREA SHOULD BE CLOSER TOWARDS DAYBREAK...AS
A COLD FRONT OVER THE MS VALLEY MOVES CLOSER TO THE FORECAST AREA.
WILL UPDATE THIS EVENING TO MENTION AFTER MIDNIGHT WORDING FOR
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ZONES OF THE FORECAST AREA.

.MRX...
NC...NONE.
TN...NONE.
VA...NONE.

DMG

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 1, 6:40 PM EDT, 3 hours 7 minutes before

TNZ012>017-035-VAZ001-002-005-006-008-020200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
640 PM EDT WED MAY 1 2002

...A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT ACROSS SOUTHWEST
VIRGINIA...NORTHEAST TENNESSEE...AND THE NORTHERN CUMBERLAND
PLATEAU...

A WARM FRONT...LOCATED ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY...WAS THE FOCAL POINT
FOR STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING. THESE THUNDERSTORMS
SHOULD CONTINUE TO MOVE EAST-SOUTHEAST THIS EVENING....AND MAY AFFECT
SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...NORTHEAST TENNESSEE...AND THE NORTHERN
CUMBERLAND PLATEAU BY MID EVENING. THESE STORMS WILL HAVE THE
POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. ALSO...
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE...WHICH MAY CAUSE SOME
FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND FLOOD PRONE AREAS.

RESIDENTS ACROSS SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...NORTHEAST TENNESSEE...AND THE
NORTHERN CUMBERLAND PLATEAU ARE ADVISED TO KEEP ABREAST OF THE LATEST
WEATHER DEVELOPMENTS. PLEASE STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR
YOUR FAVORITE LOCAL RADIO AND TV STATION...FOR THE LATEST STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

DMG

The office that day

Everything else NWS Morristown, TN issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 1, 9:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Lee	45 min
May 1, 10:27 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Scott, City of Bristol	48 min
May 1, 10:38 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Washington	52 min
May 2, 2:08 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Wise	52 min
May 2, 2:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Russell	19 min
May 2, 3:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Wise, City of Norton	51 min
May 2, 4:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Wise	24 min
May 2, 7:07 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Russell	23 min
May 2, 7:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Scott	45 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 2002 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.