Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 2004
Tornado Warning 11, NWS Blacksburg, VA
NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at Sep 17, 2004, 12:56 PM EDT for Halifax County, Virginia. It was in force for 34 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
- Sep 17, 2004, 12:56 PM EDT (16:56 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 17, 2004, 1:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Blacksburg, VA
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Halifax County, VA
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:57 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 17, 10:10 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 73 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
- 266 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 534 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 53 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 346 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 493 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.6
- Supercell composite
- 3.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS51 KRNK 171656 TORRNK VAC083-171730- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 1256 PM EDT FRI SEP 17 2004 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... CENTRAL AND EASTERN HALIFAX COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA * UNTIL 130 PM EDT * AT 1249 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF ALTON...OR ABOUT 8 MILES SOUTHEAST OF TURBEVILLE... MOVING NORTH AT 50 MPH. * LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... CLUSTER SPRINGS... SOUTH BOSTON... HALIFAX... CRYSTAL HILL... NATHALIE... 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 500 PM EDT FRIDAY AFTERNOON FOR NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA AND SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA. LAT...LON 3656 7905 3655 7882 3691 7873 3702 7901 $$ WERT
The office that day
Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 17, 10:28 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Patrick | 32 min |
| Sep 17, 11:32 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Henry, City of Martinsville | 28 min |
| Sep 17, 12:01 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Franklin, Henry, City of Martinsville | 29 min |
| Sep 17, 12:26 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Franklin | 34 min |
| Sep 17, 12:31 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Henry, City of Martinsville | 29 min |
| Sep 17, 12:50 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Roanoke, City of Roanoke, City of Salem | 25 min |
| Sep 17, 1:01 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Bedford, Franklin | 29 min |
| Sep 17, 1:05 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Franklin | 25 min |
| Sep 17, 1:30 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Botetourt | 30 min |
| Sep 17, 1:44 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Appomattox, Campbell, Charlotte | 31 min |
| Sep 17, 2:11 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Bedford, Campbell, Halifax, Pittsylvania | 49 min |
| Sep 17, 2:15 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Appomattox | 30 min |
| Sep 17, 2:25 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Campbell, Pittsylvania | 35 min |
| Sep 17, 2:29 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RNK | Bedford, Campbell, Halifax, Pittsylvania, City of Lynchburg | 3 hr |
| Sep 17, 2:39 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Buckingham | 21 min |
| Sep 17, 3:37 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RNK | Amherst, Appomattox | 3 hr |
| Sep 17, 3:38 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Appomattox, Buckingham, Charlotte, Halifax | 37 min |
| Sep 17, 4:03 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RNK | Charlotte | 3 hr |
| Sep 17, 4:16 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Buckingham | 29 min |
| Sep 17, 4:33 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Buckingham | 12 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 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.