Alert archive / West Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Charleston, WV

May 2, 2002Raleigh County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this tornado warning at May 2, 2002, 1:00 AM EDT for Raleigh County, West Virginia. It was in force for 30 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 2, 2002, 1:00 AM EDT (05:00 UTC)
Expired: May 2, 2002, 1:30 AM EDT
In force: 30 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, WV
Area: Whole counties

County Raleigh County, WV

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 2, 1:15 AM EDT	Hail 1	Coal City, WV
May 2, 1:20 AM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Coal City, WV	Trees were blown down along Lynwinn Road.
May 2, 1:25 AM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Ghent, WV	A north bound tracker trailer, with about 1000 pounds of cargo, hit a cross wind on the West Virginia Turnpike. The wind was associated with the same thunderstorm complex that moved through Coal City. The wind forced the truck off the left passing lane, and

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

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 00:00Z, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 167 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: 372 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1156 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 210 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 382 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.6
Supercell composite: 3.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS51 KRLX 020500
TORRLX
WVC081-020530-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
101 AM EDT THU MAY 2 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  RALEIGH COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA...

* UNTIL 130 AM EDT...

* AT 100 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A STORM
  CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR SOPHIA...OR ABOUT 2 MILES SOUTH
  OF CRAB ORCHARD...MOVING EAST AT 60 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING AREA INCLUDE BECKLEY...BRADLEY...COAL
  CITY AND CRAB ORCHARD.

--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...WHEN YOU CAN DO SO SAFELY.

$$

LAT...LON 3758 8128 3768 8138 3776 8143 3782 8151
          3796 8134 3788 8129 3788 8113 3782 8100

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 2, 1:34 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Mason	26 min
May 2, 2:06 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	RLX	Gilmer	24 min
May 2, 11:38 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Logan	37 min
May 2, 11:44 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Mingo	31 min
May 2, 11:50 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Boone	40 min
May 2, 11:55 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RLX	Logan, Mingo	3 hr
May 2, 12:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	McDowell	23 min
May 2, 1:47 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RLX	McDowell	3 hr
May 2, 1:53 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	McDowell	37 min
May 2, 3:35 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RLX	Logan, Mingo	3 hr
May 2, 3:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	McDowell	46 min
May 2, 4:43 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RLX	McDowell	3 hr
May 2, 6:36 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RLX	Logan, Mingo	3 hr
May 2, 7:36 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RLX	McDowell	6 hr

Nearby

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