Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Blacksburg, VA

September 17, 2004Rockingham County, Stokes County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at Sep 17, 2004, 11:02 AM EDT for Rockingham County, Stokes County, North Carolina. It was in force for 28 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, 11:02 AM EDT (15:02 UTC)
Expired: Sep 17, 2004, 11:30 AM EDT
In force: 28 min
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Rockingham County, NC, Stokes County, NC

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:02 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 26 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: 888 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 551 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 237 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 297 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.0
Supercell composite: 5.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS51 KRNK 171502
TORRNK
NCC157-169-171530-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1101 AM EDT FRI SEP 17 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN ROCKINGHAM COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
  EASTERN STOKES COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 1130 AM EDT

* AT 1055 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 12 MILES
  SOUTHEAST OF WALNUT COVE...OR ABOUT 7 MILES SOUTH OF BELEWS
  CREEK...MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...

  WALNUT COVE...
  ELLISBORO...
  MADISON...
  MAYODAN...
  AYERSVILLE...

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 3613 8016 3609 7994 3655 7980 3655 8013

$$

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	Stokes	32 min
Sep 17, 11:32 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Rockingham	28 min
Sep 17, 12:31 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Rockingham	29 min
Sep 17, 2:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Caswell	49 min
Sep 17, 2:29 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RNK	Caswell	3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 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.