Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 101, NWS Charleston, WV

August 3, 2002Calhoun County, Ritchie County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 3, 2002, 7:46 PM EDT for Calhoun County, Ritchie County, West Virginia. It was in force for 29 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 3, 2002, 7:46 PM EDT (23:46 UTC)
Expired
Aug 3, 2002, 8:15 PM EDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

Counties Calhoun County, WV, Ritchie County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:48 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
Aug 3, 8:00 PM EDTThunderstorm WindBig Spgs, WVSeveral large branches were blown 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 nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 177 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2002-08-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 954 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2002-08-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 20 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
954 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-121 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
999 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

685 
WUUS51 KRLX 032346
SVRRLX
WVC013-085-040015-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
745 PM EDT SAT AUG 3 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  RITCHIE COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA...
  CALHOUN COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA...

* UNTIL 815 PM EDT...

* AT 745 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A 
SEVERE   THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES WEST OF AUBURN...MOVING VERY SLOWLY 
SOUTHWARD.

.

PLEASE REPORT HAIL OR STRONG WINDS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY
CALLING TOLL FREE...877-633-6772...WHEN YOU CAN DO SO SAFELY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 2, 8:07 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXRandolph83 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in West Virginia, 2002Every 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.