Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Morristown, TN

May 31, 2004Scott County, Virginia

NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at May 31, 2004, 1:18 AM EDT for Scott County, Virginia. It was in force for 27 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 31, 2004, 1:18 AM EDT (05:18 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 2004, 1:45 AM EDT
In force: 27 min
Issued by: NWS Morristown, TN
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Scott County, VA

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:20 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.

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 31, 12:40 AM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 254 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: 504 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -52 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1119 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 149 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

931 
WFUS54 KMRX 310518
TORMRX
VAC169-310545-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
118 AM EDT MON MAY 31 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SCOTT COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 145 AM EDT

* AT 115 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  ANOTHER SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 4 MILES EAST 
  OF CLINCHPORT...OR 6 MILES WEST OF GATE CITY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 
  20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  GATE CITY AROUND 125 AM EDT
  FORT BLACKMORE AROUND 135 AM EDT
  6 MILES NORTHWEST OF HILTONS AROUND 140 AM EDT
  NICKELSVILLE AROUND 145 AM EDT

NIGHTTIME TORNADOES ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS. TAKE COVER NOW IF YOU
WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE OR HEAR IT COMING...IT MAY BE TOO LATE TO GET TO A
SAFE PLACE.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM THIS MORNING.

LAT...LON 3672 8283 3660 8276 3661 8231 3689 8240

$$

DMG

The office that day

Everything else NWS Morristown, TN issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 31, 12:13 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	MRX	Lee	47 min
May 31, 12:27 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	MRX	Scott	48 min
May 31, 1:13 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	MRX	Russell, Washington	47 min
May 31, 1:59 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Lee	61 min
May 31, 2:07 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	MRX	Washington	38 min
May 31, 2:57 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Lee, Scott, Wise, City of Norton	48 min
May 31, 3:02 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	MRX	Lee	3 hr
May 31, 3:46 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Russell, Scott, Washington, City of Bristol	59 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 2004 Every tornado warning in 2004 Tornadoes in 2004

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.