Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Blacksburg, VA

September 17, 2004Rockingham County, North Carolina; Henry County, City of Martinsville, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at Sep 17, 2004, 12:31 PM EDT for Rockingham County, North Carolina; Henry County, City of Martinsville, Virginia. It was in force for 29 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, 12:31 PM EDT (16:31 UTC)
Expired: Sep 17, 2004, 1:00 PM EDT
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Rockingham County, NC, City of Martinsville, VA, Henry County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 62 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:31 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, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 60 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 171631
TORRNK
NCC157-VAC089-690-171700-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1231 PM EDT FRI SEP 17 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN ROCKINGHAM COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
  EASTERN HENRY COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA
  MARTINSVILLE IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 100 PM EDT

* AT 1224 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 3 MILES WEST OF
  EDEN...MOVING NORTH AT 45 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...

  EDEN...
  AXTON...
  LEATHERWOOD...
  MOUNTAIN VALLEY...

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.

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 3646 7991 3646 7970 3655 7972 3681 7967
      3677 7976 3680 7991

$$

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, 11:02 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Rockingham, Stokes	28 min
Sep 17, 11:32 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Rockingham	28 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
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, 12:50 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Roanoke, City of Roanoke, City of Salem	25 min
Sep 17, 12:56 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Halifax	34 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, 2:15 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Appomattox	30 min
Sep 17, 2:25 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Campbell, Pittsylvania	35 min
Sep 17, 2:39 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, 2004 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.