Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 9, 2003Bedford County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 9, 2003, 3:31 PM EDT for Bedford County, Virginia. It was in force for 29 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, 3:31 PM EDT (19:31 UTC)
Expired: May 9, 2003, 4:00 PM EDT
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Bedford County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:33 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
May 9, 2:05 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 16 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: 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 
WUUS51 KRNK 091931
SVRRNK
VAC019-515-092000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
331 PM EDT FRI MAY 9 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  BEDFORD IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  CENTRAL BEDFORD COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 400 PM EDT.

* AT 331 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF MONTVALE...MOVING
  SOUTHEAST AT 60 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS THREATENED THROUGH 400 PM EDT INCLUDE
  MONTVALE...
  BEDFORD CITY...

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING UP DIME SIZE HAIL
OR LARGER.

<<CALL TO ACTION>>IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE
WEATHER IN A STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY
RAIN...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER THAT
TORNADOES CAN OCCUR WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCED WARNING.

RELAY SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY
CALLING TOLL FREE...1...8 6 6...2 1 5...4 3 2 4.

LAT...LON 3745 7961 3738 7977 3713 7942 3731 7930

$$

07

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 9, 2:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Buckingham	30 min
May 9, 2:51 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Alleghany, Craig	24 min
May 9, 2:59 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Buckingham	31 min
May 9, 3:07 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Botetourt	23 min
May 9, 3:53 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Bedford	37 min
May 9, 4:07 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Campbell	23 min
May 9, 4:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Roanoke, City of Roanoke, City of Salem	34 min
May 9, 4:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Pittsylvania	24 min
May 9, 4:28 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Halifax, Pittsylvania	47 min
May 9, 4:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Campbell	30 min
May 9, 4:46 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Bedford	29 min
May 9, 5:01 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Halifax	29 min
May 9, 5:04 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Pittsylvania	26 min
May 9, 5:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Halifax	34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 2003 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.