Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Wakefield, VA

May 8, 2003Henrico County, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at May 8, 2003, 4:39 PM EDT for Henrico County, Virginia. It was in force for 16 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, 4:39 PM EDT (20:39 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 2003, 4:55 PM EDT
In force
16 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Henrico County, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 63 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:41 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 164 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2003-05-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 203 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2003-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 29 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
203 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-52 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
820 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
88 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 082039
TORAKQ
VAC087-082055-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WAKEFIELD HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  HENRICO COUNTY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 455 PM EDT

* AT 439 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO OVER MONTROSE...
  MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE STORM PRODUCING THE TORNADO WILL REACH...
  RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL AND VARINA AROUND 440 PM
  GLENDALE AND ELKO AROUND 450 PM

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

LAT...LON 3736 7729 3744 7741 3750 7741 3753 7738
          3756 7741 3758 7738 3750 7719
$$

REILLY

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, 3:18 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQGloucester32 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, 4:44 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.