Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 443
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 4, 2008, 2:26 AM EDT for 66 counties in Virginia; 19 counties in West Virginia. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jun 4, 2008, 2:26 AM EDT (06:26 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 4, 2008, 8:21 AM EDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 85 counties
Albemarle County, VA, Alleghany County, VA, Amelia County, VA, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Augusta County, VA, Bath County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Botetourt County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Charlottesville, VA, City of Covington, VA, City of Fredericksburg, VA, City of Harrisonburg, VA, City of Lexington, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Newport News, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Richmond, VA, City of Staunton, VA, City of Waynesboro, VA, City of Williamsburg, VA, Craig County, VA, Culpeper County, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Gloucester County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Greene County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Highland County, VA, James City County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King George County, VA, King William County, VA, Lancaster County, VA, Louisa County, VA, Madison County, VA, Mathews County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, Nelson County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Northumberland County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Orange County, VA, Page County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Rockbridge County, VA, Rockingham County, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, Westmoreland County, VA, York County, VA, Boone County, WV, Braxton County, WV, Calhoun County, WV, Clay County, WV, Fayette County, WV, Gilmer County, WV, Greenbrier County, WV, Kanawha County, WV, Lewis County, WV, Monroe County, WV, Nicholas County, WV, Pendleton County, WV, Pocahontas County, WV, Raleigh County, WV, Randolph County, WV, Roane County, WV, Summers County, WV, Upshur County, WV, Webster County, WV
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 122 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:26 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.
What SPC expected
The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.
- Two or more tornadoes
- 30%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 30%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 5%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 10%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 40%
Warnings issued inside it
5 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 4, 2:53 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Caroline, Fluvanna, Goochland, Hanover, Louisa | 52 min |
| Jun 4, 2:58 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Spotsylvania, City of Fredericksburg | 22 min |
| Jun 4, 3:09 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Caroline, Essex, Richmond, Westmoreland | 36 min |
| Jun 4, 3:29 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Caroline, Essex, Hanover, Henrico, King and Queen, King William and 6 more | 46 min |
| Jun 4, 4:00 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Albemarle, Augusta, Nelson | 60 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 00:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 85 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
- 1143 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 535 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 310 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 601 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 2.7
- Supercell composite
- 15.7
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 4, 12:18 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Calvert, Charles, Prince George's, Saint Mary's | 87 min |
| Jun 4, 9:18 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Garrett | 7 hr |
| Jun 4, 11:51 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Charles and 11 more | 84 min |
| Jun 4, 12:49 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Charles and 8 more | 7 hr |
| Jun 4, 2:01 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Charles | 59 min |
| Jun 4, 2:53 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's, Somerset and 3 more | 5 hr |
| Jun 4, 4:04 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Charles | 116 min |
| Jun 4, 7:13 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anne Arundel, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Dorchester, Howard and 10 more | 62 min |
| Jun 4, 7:34 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Anne Arundel, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Dorchester, Kent and 8 more | 5 hr |
| Jun 4, 7:23 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Albemarle, Augusta, Bath, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield and 40 more | 97 min |
| Jun 4, 2:39 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Buchanan | 96 min |
| Jun 3, 8:42 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cabell, Jackson, Mason, Pleasants, Putnam, Ritchie and 3 more | 6 hr |
| Jun 3, 10:47 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Mason, Wood | 88 min |
| Jun 4, 12:34 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Jackson, Mason, Pleasants, Wood | 86 min |
| Jun 4, 3:00 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barbour, Cabell, Doddridge, Harrison, Jackson, Mason and 7 more | 6 hr |
| Jun 4, 7:09 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Mason, Pleasants, Wirt, Wood | 2 hr |
| Jun 4, 12:25 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Boone, Cabell, Lincoln, Logan, Mingo, Wayne and 1 more | 95 min |
| Jun 4, 3:26 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Boone, Braxton, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Fayette and 17 more | 4 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2008Tornado Watches in West Virginia, 2008Every tornado watch in 2008
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.