Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Wakefield, VA

May 9, 2003Amelia County, Powhatan County, Virginia

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at May 9, 2003, 3:09 PM EDT for Amelia County, Powhatan County, 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
May 9, 2003, 3:09 PM EDT (19:09 UTC)
Expired
May 9, 2003, 3:40 PM EDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Amelia County, VA, Powhatan County, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 110 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:10 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 9, 2:05 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 129 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 12:00Z on 2003-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 59 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 2003-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 153 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
59 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-186 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
982 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
153 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
199 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 091909
TORAKQ
VAC007-145-091940-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
309 PM EDT FRI MAY 9 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WAKEFIELD HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  AMELIA COUNTY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  POWHATAN COUNTY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 340 PM EDT

* AT 309 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 3 MILES WEST OF
  TRENTON MILLS...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE STORM PRODUCING THE TORNADO WILL REACH...
  TRENTS MILL AND BEAR CREEK LAKE STATE PAR AROUND 310 PM
  OAK FOREST AND ASHBY AROUND 315 PM
  SUNNYSIDE AND CLINTON AROUND 320 PM
  TOBACCOVILLE AND MORVEN AROUND 325 PM
  LODORE AND TRUXILLO AROUND 330 PM
  WINTERHAM AND AMELIA COURTHOUSE AROUND 335 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 3769 7822 3756 7838 3717 7789 3733 7770
$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 9, 2:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQFluvanna25 min
May 9, 2:58 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQCumberland32 min
May 9, 3:37 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQAmelia, Dinwiddie38 min
May 9, 3:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQChesterfield31 min
May 9, 3:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQNottoway18 min
May 9, 4:12 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQDinwiddie, Greensville, Sussex38 min
May 9, 4:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQBrunswick, Dinwiddie, Nottoway40 min
May 9, 4:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQSouthampton38 min
May 9, 4:51 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQSouthampton24 min
May 9, 5:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQMecklenburg29 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.