Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Blacksburg, VA

August 12, 2004Rockingham County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at Aug 12, 2004, 3:30 PM EDT for Rockingham County, North Carolina. It was in force for 30 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
Aug 12, 2004, 3:30 PM EDT (19:30 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 2004, 4:00 PM EDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Rockingham County, NC

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:25 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 12, 2:25 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 24 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2004-08-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 634 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2004-08-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 47 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
634 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
701 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
66 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.

000 
WFUS51 KRNK 121930
TORRNK
NCC157-122000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
330 PM EDT THU AUG 12 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ROCKINGHAM COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 400 PM EDT

* AT 328 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 9 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF BETHANY...OR ABOUT 6 MILES EAST OF BELEWS CREEK...
  MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...

  BETHANY...
  MONROETON...
  REIDSVILLE...

HEAVY RAINFALL MAY OBSCURE THIS TORNADO. TAKE COVER NOW IF YOU WAIT
TO SEE OR HEAR IT COMING...IT MAY BE TOO LATE TO GET TO A SAFE PLACE.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

PLEASE RELAY SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
BY CALLING TOLL FREE...1...8 6 6...2 1 5...4 3 2 4.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM EDT THURSDAY EVENING
FOR NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA AND SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA.

LAT...LON 3629 8002 3612 7997 3628 7956 3649 7967

$$

WP

The office that day

Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 4:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKCaswell, Rockingham40 min
Aug 12, 4:26 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKCaswell, Rockingham34 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 2004Every tornado warning in 2004Tornadoes 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.