Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Wakefield, VA

May 8, 2003Gloucester County, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at May 8, 2003, 3:18 PM EDT for Gloucester County, Virginia. It was in force for 32 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
May 8, 2003, 3:18 PM EDT (19:18 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 2003, 3:50 PM EDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Gloucester County, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:22 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

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 113 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 2003-05-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 140 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 2003-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -72 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
140 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
653 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-72 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WFUS51 KAKQ 081918
TORAKQ
VAC073-081950-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
318 PM EDT THU MAY 8 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WAKEFIELD HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  GLOUCESTER COUNTY IN EASTERN VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 350 PM EDT

* AT 318 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 11 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  GLENNS...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE STORM PRODUCING THE TORNADO WILL REACH...
  GLENNS AROUND 325 PM
  CASH AND PAMPA AROUND 330 PM
  PINERO AND HARCUM AROUND 335 PM
  GLOUCESTER COURTHOUSE AROUND 340 PM
  BEULAH AND WARE NECK AROUND 345 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 3729 7638 3746 7664 3753 7667 3760 7665
          3753 7645
$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 7, 9:16 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ59 min
May 8, 2:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCaroline28 min
May 8, 3:01 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQEssex, King and Queen, Middlesex29 min
May 8, 3:30 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ45 min
May 8, 3:30 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ45 min
May 8, 3:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQMathews30 min
May 8, 3:51 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ54 min
May 8, 3:51 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ54 min
May 8, 3:51 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ54 min
May 8, 3:51 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQGloucester14 min
May 8, 4:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQHenrico, City of Richmond30 min
May 8, 4:39 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQHenrico16 min
May 8, 4:44 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ46 min
May 8, 4:44 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ46 min
May 8, 4:44 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ46 min
May 8, 4:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCity of Virginia Beach26 min
May 8, 5:06 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ39 min
May 8, 5:06 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ39 min
May 8, 5:06 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningAKQ39 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.