Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2003
Severe Thunderstorm Watch 840
The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Aug 5, 2003, 1:20 PM EDT for 30 counties in North Carolina; 37 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 5, 2003, 1:20 PM EDT (17:20 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 5, 2003, 7:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 67 counties
Alamance County, NC, Alexander County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Catawba County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Davie County, NC, Durham County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Gaston County, NC, Granville County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Iredell County, NC, Lee County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Orange County, NC, Person County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Stokes County, NC, Surry County, NC, Vance County, NC, Yadkin County, NC, Albemarle County, VA, Amelia County, VA, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Charlottesville, VA, City of Danville, VA, City of Lexington, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, City of Richmond, VA, City of Roanoke, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Essex County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Franklin County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henry County, VA, King William County, VA, Louisa County, VA, Lunenburg County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA, Nelson County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Patrick County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Rockbridge County, VA
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:20 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.
Warnings issued inside it
21 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 1:58 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Surry | 47 min |
| Aug 5, 3:39 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Roanoke, City of Roanoke, City of Salem | 51 min |
| Aug 5, 3:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Gaston, Lincoln | 61 min |
| Aug 5, 3:54 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Bedford | 66 min |
| Aug 5, 4:04 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Stokes | 41 min |
| Aug 5, 4:31 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Forsyth | 44 min |
| Aug 5, 4:43 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Franklin | 62 min |
| Aug 5, 4:56 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Gaston | 49 min |
| Aug 5, 5:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Caswell | 30 min |
| Aug 5, 5:06 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Caswell | 54 min |
| Aug 5, 5:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Mecklenburg | 60 min |
| Aug 5, 5:23 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Iredell | 52 min |
| Aug 5, 5:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Montgomery | 53 min |
| Aug 5, 5:53 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RNK | Caswell | 3 hr |
| Aug 5, 5:58 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Lunenburg | 32 min |
| Aug 5, 6:21 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Montgomery | 39 min |
| Aug 5, 6:22 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Halifax | 23 min |
| Aug 5, 6:23 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Halifax | 52 min |
| Aug 5, 6:43 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Moore | 62 min |
| Aug 5, 6:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Guilford | 30 min |
| Aug 5, 6:47 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RAH | Montgomery | 118 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 21 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
- 249 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -125 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 963 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 26 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 59 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 9:59 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham and 10 more | 2 hr |
| Aug 5, 12:49 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Caswell, Chatham, Cumberland and 30 more | 116 min |
| Aug 5, 2:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Anson, Richmond, Union | 4 hr |
| Aug 5, 6:01 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Alexander, Anson, Cabarrus, Caswell, Catawba and 35 more | 59 min |
| Aug 5, 6:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Anson, Chatham, Cumberland, Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin and 17 more | 4 hr |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Virginia, 2003Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Carolina, 2003Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.