Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 22, NWS Wakefield, VA

August 8, 2003City of Virginia Beach, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at Aug 8, 2003, 3:21 PM EDT for City of Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was in force for 9 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
Aug 8, 2003, 3:21 PM EDT (19:21 UTC)
Expired
Aug 8, 2003, 3:30 PM EDT
In force
9 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County City of Virginia Beach, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:23 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

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 132 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2003-08-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2003-08-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-76 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
695 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
75 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 
WFUS51 KAKQ 081921
TORAKQ
VAC810-081930-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
321 PM EDT FRI AUG 8 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WAKEFIELD HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH IN SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 330 PM EDT

* AT 321 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER BAYSIDE...OR ABOUT
  4 MILES NORTH OF KEMPSVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
 6 MILES WEST OF CAPE HENRY AROUND 330 PM

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

LAT...LON 3687 7599 3682 7601 3676 7608 3681 7618
          3686 7620 3690 7619 3693 7616 3692 7606
          3695 7602 3691 7596
$$

REILLY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 8, 3:22 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ23 min

Nearby

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