Alert archive / West Virginia / Special Weather Statements in 2012

Special Weather Statement, NWS Charleston, WV

May 1, 2012McDowell County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this special weather statement at May 1, 2012, 5:01 PM EDT for McDowell County, West 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: May 1, 2012, 5:01 PM EDT (21:01 UTC)
Expired: May 1, 2012, 5:30 PM EDT
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, WV

County McDowell County, WV

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 105 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:01 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 nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 167 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: 660 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 496 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 167 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 213 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 3.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

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What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this special weather statement went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Charleston, WV wrote its last area forecast discussion before this special weather statement went out at May 1, 3:09 PM EDT, 1 hour 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 1, 3:09 PM EDT, 1 hour 52 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, May 1, 4:16 PM EDT, 45 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
416 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 2012

VAZ003-004-WVZ027-033>037-022030-
DICKENSON-BUCHANAN-CLAY-MCDOWELL-WYOMING-RALEIGH-FAYETTE-NICHOLAS-
416 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 2012

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...CENTRAL
WEST VIRGINIA AND SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT THE AREA THROUGH TONIGHT.
IF HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS APPEAR HEADED FOR AN AREA MADE VULNERABLE
BY RECENT THUNDERSTORMS...THEN A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MAY BE
NECESSARY FOR THAT AREA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY.

SEVERAL ROUNDS OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY
THROUGH SATURDAY MAY RESULT IN A FLASH FLOOD THREAT. IF
CONDITIONS INDICATE EXCESSIVE RAIN POTENTIAL ON ACCOUNT OF
REPEATED HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MAY BE
NECESSARY FOR THE MOST VULNERABLE COUNTIES.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

KYZ101>103-105-OHZ066-067-075-076-083>087-WVZ005>009-013>017-024>026-
022030-
GREENUP-CARTER-BOYD-LAWRENCE KY-PERRY-MORGAN-ATHENS-WASHINGTON-
JACKSON OH-VINTON-MEIGS-GALLIA-LAWRENCE OH-WAYNE-CABELL-MASON-
JACKSON WV-WOOD-LINCOLN-PUTNAM-KANAWHA-ROANE-WIRT-MINGO-LOGAN-BOONE-
416 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 2012

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST
KENTUCKY...SOUTHEAST OHIO AND MUCH OF WEST VIRGINIA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT THE AREA THROUGH TONIGHT.
IF HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS APPEAR HEADED FOR AN AREA MADE VULNERABLE
BY RECENT THUNDERSTORMS...THEN A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MAY BE
NECESSARY FOR THAT AREA.

IN ADDITION...THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
THROUGH ABOUT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT...WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE
HAIL THE PRIMARY THREATS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY.

SEVERAL ROUNDS OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY
THROUGH SATURDAY MAY RESULT IN A FLASH FLOOD THREAT. IF
CONDITIONS INDICATE EXCESSIVE RAIN POTENTIAL ON ACCOUNT OF
REPEATED HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MAY BE
NECESSARY FOR THE MOST VULNERABLE COUNTIES.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

WVZ010-011-018>020-028>032-038>040-046-047-022030-
PLEASANTS-TYLER-CALHOUN-RITCHIE-DODDRIDGE-BRAXTON-GILMER-LEWIS-
HARRISON-TAYLOR-WEBSTER-UPSHUR-BARBOUR-POCAHONTAS-RANDOLPH-
416 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 2012

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA AND
NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT THE AREA LATER TODAY THROUGH
TONIGHT. IF HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS APPEAR HEADED FOR AN AREA MADE
VULNERABLE BY RECENT THUNDERSTORMS...THEN A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MAY
BE NECESSARY FOR THAT AREA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY.

SEVERAL ROUNDS OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY
THROUGH SATURDAY MAY RESULT IN A FLASH FLOOD THREAT. IF
CONDITIONS INDICATE EXCESSIVE RAIN POTENTIAL ON ACCOUNT OF
REPEATED HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MAY BE
NECESSARY FOR THE MOST VULNERABLE COUNTIES.

IN ADDITION...THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
ON WEDNESDAY...WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL THE PRIMARY
THREATS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 1, 5:01 PM EDT, 0 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
501 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 2012

WVZ033-034-012130-
MCDOWELL WV-WYOMING WV-
501 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 2012

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT EAST CENTRAL MCDOWELL AND
EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN WYOMING COUNTIES...

AT 459 PM EDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 11 MILES NORTHWEST
OF BLUEFIELD...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH AND HAIL UP TO NICKEL SIZE ARE POSSIBLE WITH
THIS STORM. VERY HEAVY RAIN WILL FALL FROM THIS STORM...AND WILL
CAUSE WATER TO POND ON ROADS AND QUICKLY FILL ROADSIDE DITCHES AND
SMALL STREAMS.

THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR MAYBEURY AROUND 510 PM.

PLEASE REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY
CALLING TOLL FREE...877-633-6772...WHEN YOU CAN DO SO SAFELY.

LAT...LON 3725 8151 3738 8157 3753 8124 3752 8123
      3751 8123 3746 8130 3742 8128 3741 8131
      3732 8136 3730 8140 3728 8140 3724 8148

09

The office that day

Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 30, 11:00 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RLX	Cabell, Lincoln, Wayne	45 min
Apr 30, 11:45 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RLX	Boone, Kanawha	45 min
May 1, 12:27 AM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RLX	Clay, Nicholas	48 min
May 1, 1:07 AM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RLX	Barbour, Braxton, Lewis, Randolph, Upshur	68 min
May 1, 7:12 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RLX	Vinton	33 min
May 1, 7:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Athens, Jackson, Meigs, Vinton	59 min
May 1, 7:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Gallia, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Vinton	53 min
May 1, 7:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Gallia, Lawrence	64 min
Apr 30, 10:11 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RLX	Boyd, Carter, Greenup	34 min

Nearby

Special Weather Statements in West Virginia, 2012 Every special weather statement in 2012

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.