Alert archive / West Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 2, 2002Summers County, West Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at May 2, 2002, 1:20 AM EDT for Summers County, West Virginia. It was in force for 25 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 2, 2002, 1:20 AM EDT (05:20 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 2002, 1:45 AM EDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Summers County, WV

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:22 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 00:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 130 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, Roanoke, VA at 00:00Z on 2002-05-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 372 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, Roanoke, VA at 00:00Z on 2002-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 210 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
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 KRNK 020520
TORRNK
WVC089-020545-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
119 AM EDT THU MAY 2 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN SUMMERS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 145 AM EDT.

* AT 117 AM EDT...WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO 14 MILES   
NORTHWEST OF PIPESTEM...NEAR COAL CITY...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS THREATENED THROUGH 145 AM EDT INCLUDE

  HINTON...
  ELLISON...
  PIPESTEM...

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

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 1:43 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKMonroe32 min
May 2, 1:12 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKMercer3 hr
May 2, 4:28 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKMercer3 hr
May 2, 6:41 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKMonroe3 hr
May 2, 7:30 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKMercer2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in West Virginia, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.