Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 9, 2003Halifax County, Pittsylvania County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at May 9, 2003, 4:28 PM EDT for Halifax County, Pittsylvania County, Virginia. It was in force for 47 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, 4:28 PM EDT (20:28 UTC)
Expired: May 9, 2003, 5:15 PM EDT
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Halifax County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:28 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, 4:15 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 32 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 
WFUS51 KRNK 092028
TORRNK
VAC083-143-092115-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN HALIFAX COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  NORTHEASTERN PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 515 PM EDT.

* AT 428 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTH OF HURT...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 40
  MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS THREATENED THROUGH 515 PM EDT INCLUDE

  MT AIRY...
  NATHALIE...

<<CALL TO ACTION>>THIS TORNADO WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT FOR THE SAME AREA. GO TO A
BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

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 3677 7896 3702 7947 3707 7949 3707 7941
          3714 7934 3710 7929 3713 7926 3707 7920
          3701 7890

$$

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, 3:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Bedford	29 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, 4:30 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

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