Alert archive / Virginia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 880

May 9, 200336 counties in North Carolina; 84 counties in Virginia; Greenbrier County, Monroe County, West Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 9, 2003, 3:55 PM EDT for 36 counties in North Carolina; 84 counties in Virginia; Greenbrier County, Monroe County, West Virginia. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 9, 2003, 3:55 PM EDT (19:55 UTC)
Expired
May 9, 2003, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 122 counties

Alamance County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Camden County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Davie County, NC, Durham County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Gates County, NC, Granville County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Martin County, NC, Nash County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Orange County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Person County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Stokes County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Albemarle County, VA, Alleghany County, VA, Amelia County, VA, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Bath County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Botetourt County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Charlottesville, VA, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Covington, VA, City of Danville, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Hampton, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Lexington, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, City of Newport News, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Poquoson, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Radford, VA, City of Richmond, VA, City of Roanoke, VA, City of Salem, VA, City of Staunton, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, City of Waynesboro, VA, City of Williamsburg, VA, Craig County, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Floyd County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Franklin County, VA, Giles County, VA, Gloucester County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Henry County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, James City County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King William County, VA, Lancaster County, VA, Louisa County, VA, Lunenburg County, VA, Mathews County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, Montgomery County, VA, Nelson County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Northumberland County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Patrick County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Roanoke County, VA, Rockbridge County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, York County, VA, Greenbrier County, WV, Monroe County, WV

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 107 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:58 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, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 50 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°0°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.

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SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 9, 3:53 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus and 24 more97 min
May 9, 4:15 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCBertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Durham, Edgecombe and 16 more6 hr
May 9, 6:53 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Chowan, Craven, Dare, Durham and 21 more97 min
May 9, 7:20 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCBeaufort, Carteret, Craven, Duplin, Greene, Hyde and 7 more4 hr
May 9, 12:53 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlbemarle, Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Augusta and 57 more3 hr
May 9, 2:05 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlbemarle, Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Augusta and 58 more6 hr
May 9, 7:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBuchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Washington and 2 more5 hr
May 9, 5:36 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBraxton, Calhoun, Gilmer, Jackson, Lewis, Pleasants and 4 more114 min
May 9, 6:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBoone, Braxton, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge and 21 more5 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 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.