Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Wakefield, VA

February 22, 2003Southampton County, City of Franklin, City of Suffolk, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at Feb 22, 2003, 2:14 PM EST for Southampton County, City of Franklin, City of Suffolk, Virginia. It was in force for 31 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Feb 22, 2003, 2:14 PM EST (19:14 UTC)
Expired: Feb 22, 2003, 2:45 PM EST
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS Wakefield, VA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties City of Franklin, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, Southampton County, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:13 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Feb 22, 12:55 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	3 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 194 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 478 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 264 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.

653 
WFUS51 KAKQ 221914
TORAKQ
VAC175-620-800-221945-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
214 PM EST SAT FEB 22 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WAKEFIELD HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CITY OF FRANKLIN IN SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA
  CITY OF SUFFOLK IN SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA
  SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 245 PM EST

* AT 214 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 2 MILES EAST OF
  SUNBEAM...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE STORM PRODUCING THE TORNADO WILL REACH...
  FRANKLIN AROUND 215 PM
  ELWOOD AND CLEOPUS AROUND 220 PM
  HOLLAND AND BOAZ AROUND 225 PM
  LUMMIS AND NURNEY AROUND 230 PM
  DOWNTOWN SUFFOLK AND KILBY AROUND 235 PM
  MAGNOLIA AND WILROY AROUND 240 PM

TAKE COVER IN A BASEMENT OR AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.
VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED FOR STURDIER SHELTER.

IF YOU ARE IN A MOBILE HOME...ABANDON IT AND GO TO A NEARBY STURDY
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD

LAT...LON 3661 7715 3645 7706 3665 7641 3685 7653
$$

CULLEN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 22, 12:49 PM EST	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Mecklenburg	41 min
Feb 22, 1:49 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AKQ	Southampton, Sussex	31 min
Feb 22, 2:41 PM EST	Special Marine Warning	AKQ		64 min
Feb 22, 2:42 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AKQ	City of Chesapeake, City of Hampton, City of Norfolk, City of Poquoson, City of Portsmouth, City of Virginia Beach	28 min
Feb 22, 3:07 PM EST	Tornado Warning	AKQ	City of Virginia Beach	33 min
Feb 22, 3:12 PM EST	Special Marine Warning	AKQ		63 min
Feb 22, 3:12 PM EST	Special Marine Warning	AKQ		63 min
Feb 22, 4:07 PM EST	Special Marine Warning	AKQ		53 min
Feb 22, 4:07 PM EST	Special Marine Warning	AKQ		53 min
Feb 22, 4:07 PM EST	Special Marine Warning	AKQ		53 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes in 2003

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.