Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 35, NWS Blacksburg, VA
NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 1, 2002, 11:49 PM EDT for Wilkes County, North Carolina. It was in force for 41 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 1, 2002, 11:49 PM EDT (03:49 UTC)
- Expired
- May 2, 2002, 12:30 AM EDT
- In force
- 41 min
- Issued by
- NWS Blacksburg, VA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Wilkes County, NC
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 121 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:52 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, 12:15 AM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Wilbar, NC |
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, 11:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 4 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 114 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS51 KRNK 020349 SVRRNK NCC193-020430- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 1145 PM EDT WED MAY 1 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... WILKES COUNTY IN NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 1230 AM EDT. * AT 1142 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WILBAR...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH. WINDS OF UP TO 70 MILES ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. SOME LOCATIONS THREATENED THROUGH 1230 AM EDT INCLUDE WILBAR... MC GRADY... BOOMER... WILKESBORO... RONDA... <<CALL TO ACTION>>VERY LARGE HAIL IS ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THE STORM...PUT YOUR CAR IN A GARAGE AND MOVE TO A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. RELAY SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY CALLING TOLL FREE...1...8 6 6...2 1 5...4 3 2 4. $$ 11
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 Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 1, 8:34 PM EDT, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 1, 8:34 PM EDT, 3 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA 830 PM EDT MAY 1 2002 STRONGEST CELLS IN LEADING MCS OVER ERN KY SHOULD REMAIN ON ITS SRN EDGE. SVR WX SHOULD STAY SW OF THE FA. THE OVERALL MVMNT OF THE MCS SHOULD REMAIN ESE...CLOSE TO THE STNRY/WRM FNT. CORFIDI VECTORS FROM THE 18Z MODELS SUPPORT THIS MVMNT. MORE TSRA ARE DEVELOPING BEHIND THIS INTIAL MCS IN SE IN AND NRN KY AND IT LOOKS LIKE MOST OF THIS ACTIVITY WILL BE MOVG ACROSS THE CWA LATER TONITE. WILL RAISE POPS ALL ZONES- CATEG MTNS TO LIKELY FOR THE BLUE RIDGE AND EASTWARD...MAY KEEP SOME OF THE PIEDMONT CHC. DON/T SEE MUCH CHC OF TSTMS IN NERN SECTIONS LIKE ARND LYH...BUT WILL NOT TAKE IT OUT SINCE IT IS ALREADY IN THE FCST. UPDATE WILL BE OUT SHORTLY SINCE TSRA ARE ON OUR DOORSTEP. .RNK... NC...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. JJ
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 1, 10:34 PM EDT, 1 hour 15 minutes before
NCZ001-002-018-019-020400- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 1034 PM EDT WED MAY 1 2002 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... AN AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING ACROSS FAR SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA...AND THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF TENNESSEE. THE STORMS SHOULD REACH NORTH CAROLINA BETWEEN 11 AND 11:30 PM. HEAVY DOWNPOURS...AND HAIL...ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS. BS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 11:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Ashe, Watauga | 46 min |
| May 2, 7:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Rockingham | 45 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 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.