Alert archive / Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003
Mesoscale Discussion 876
The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 9, 2003, 12:53 PM EDT for 63 counties in Virginia; 9 counties in West Virginia. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 9, 2003, 12:53 PM EDT (16:53 UTC)
- Expired
- May 9, 2003, 3:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 72 counties
Albemarle County, VA, Alleghany County, VA, Amelia County, VA, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Augusta County, VA, Bath County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Botetourt County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Charlottesville, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Covington, VA, City of Fredericksburg, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Lexington, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Richmond, VA, City of Roanoke, VA, City of Salem, VA, City of Staunton, VA, City of Waynesboro, VA, City of Williamsburg, VA, Craig County, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Gloucester County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Greene County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Highland County, VA, James City County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King George County, VA, King William County, VA, Lancaster County, VA, Louisa County, VA, Mathews County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, Nelson County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Orange County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Roanoke County, VA, Rockbridge County, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, Westmoreland County, VA, York County, VA, Fayette County, WV, Greenbrier County, WV, Monroe County, WV, Nicholas County, WV, Pocahontas County, WV, Raleigh County, WV, Summers County, WV, Webster County, WV, Wyoming County, WV
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 135 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:54 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 watches that followed
Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.
The nearest sounding before it
Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 74 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
729 ACUS11 KWNS 091654 SWOMCD SPC MCD 091653 VAZ000-MDZ000-WVZ000-091930- MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0876 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 1153 AM CDT FRI MAY 09 2003 AREAS AFFECTED...WV AND VA CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL VALID 091653Z - 091930Z ...THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP/MOVE EWD ACROSS WV/VA THIS AFTERNOON. WW MAY BE REQUIRED... REGIONAL RADAR DATA SUGGESTS SLOWER-MOVING PORTION OF MCS WILL SAG SWD ACROSS WV AND CENTRAL VA THIS AFTERNOON. WLY LOW-MID LEVEL TRAJECTORIES SHOULD MAINTAIN AT LEAST WEAK WARM ADVECTION ACROSS THIS REGION MAINTAINING CURRENT BAND OF CLOUDINESS/PRECIPITATION. ALONG SRN PORTION OF THIS GRADIENT...BOUNDARY LAYER WILL CONTINUE TO WARM/DESTABILIZE WITH SBCAPES EXPECTED TO INCREASE ABOVE 2000 J/KG. GIVEN DEEP WLY COMPONENT AND SUFFICIENT CLOUD LAYER SHEAR...DAMAGING WINDS MAY ACCOMPANY STRONGER STORMS ALONG SRN PERIPHERY...IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL. ..DARROW.. 05/09/2003 ...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT... ATTN...WFO...AKQ...LWX...RNK...RLX... 38528067 38257672 37337604 36877714 37168021 37758202
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 2:05 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Albemarle, Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Augusta and 58 more | 6 hr |
| May 9, 3:55 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Albemarle, Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Bath and 78 more | 2 hr |
| May 9, 4:15 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Brunswick, Greensville, Halifax, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Southampton and 6 more | 6 hr |
| May 9, 7:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Washington and 2 more | 5 hr |
| May 9, 5:36 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Braxton, Calhoun, Gilmer, Jackson, Lewis, Pleasants and 4 more | 114 min |
| May 9, 6:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Boone, Braxton, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge and 21 more | 5 hr |
Nearby
Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in West Virginia, 2003Every mesoscale discussion 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.