Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Blacksburg, VA

April 17, 2002Patrick County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 17, 2002, 1:25 PM EDT for Patrick County, Virginia. It was in force for 35 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
Apr 17, 2002, 1:25 PM EDT (17:25 UTC)
Expired
Apr 17, 2002, 2:00 PM EDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Patrick County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 39 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:25 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
Apr 17, 1:40 PM EDTHail 0.75Stuart, 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 nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 75 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2002-04-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 155 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2002-04-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 8 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
155 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-185 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1455 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
56 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.

000 
WUUS51 KRNK 171725
SVRRNK
VAC141-171800-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
124 PM EDT WED APR 17 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN PATRICK COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA...

* UNTIL 200 PM EDT.

* AT 120 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES EAST OF STUART...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10
  MPH.

HAIL UP TO GOLFBALL SIZE CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.

SOME LOCATIONS THREATENED THROUGH 200 PM EDT INCLUDE
  STUART...

<<CALL TO ACTION>>THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH 
YOU SHOULD PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE 
AMOUNTS OF DAMAGING HAIL...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. PEOPLE OUTSIDE 
SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT 
AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.

.END
14

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 17, 3:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKFranklin47 min
Apr 17, 5:13 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKGrayson3 hr
Apr 17, 6:07 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKAmherst3 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 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.