Alert archive / Virginia / Special Weather Statements in 2012

Special Weather Statement, NWS Blacksburg, VA

July 24, 2012Grayson County, City of Galax, Virginia; Alleghany County, Ashe County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this special weather statement at Jul 24, 2012, 1:12 PM EDT for Grayson County, City of Galax, Virginia; Alleghany County, Ashe County, North Carolina. It was in force for 48 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: Jul 24, 2012, 1:12 PM EDT (17:12 UTC)
Expired: Jul 24, 2012, 2:00 PM EDT
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA

Counties Alleghany County, NC, Ashe County, NC, City of Galax, VA, Grayson County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 126 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:13 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 5.2 hours before the alert went out and 154 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: 1441 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -106 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1104 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 205 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 197 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 2.7

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 Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this special weather statement went out at Jul 24, 12:21 PM EDT, 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 24, 12:21 PM EDT, 51 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 24, 5:50 AM EDT, 7 hours 22 minutes before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 24, 9:48 AM EDT, 3 hours 24 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
948 AM EDT TUE JUL 24 2012

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0315 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 SW CHATHAM            36.78N 79.44W
07/23/2012                   PITTSYLVANIA       VA   EMERGENCY MNGR

            TREE DOWN ON A POWER LINE ALONG IRISH ROAD

&&

PW

Special weather statement, Jul 24, 1:12 PM EDT, 0 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
112 PM EDT TUE JUL 24 2012

NCZ001>003-018-019-VAZ015-016-241800-
ALLEGHANY NC-ASHE NC-CARROLL VA-GRAYSON VA-SURRY NC-WATAUGA NC-
WILKES NC-
112 PM EDT TUE JUL 24 2012

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT ALLEGHANY...ASHE...CARROLL...
GRAYSON...SURRY...WATAUGA AND WILKES COUNTIES...

AT 100 PM EDT...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALONG A LINE FROM FRIES
VIRGINIA...OR NEAR GALAX CITY...TO 8 MILES NORTH OF MOUNTAIN
CITY...OR NEAR MOUNT ROGERS...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS. IN
ADDITION...EXPECT A 30 MINUTE PERIOD OF VERY HEAVY RAIN WHICH WILL
CAUSE WATER TO POND ON ROADS AND QUICKLY FILL ROADSIDE DITCHES AND
SMALL STREAMS. ANOTHER HAZARD TO EXPECT WILL BE FREQUENT CLOUD TO
GROUND LIGHTNING. FOR YOUR SAFETY...DO NOT STAY IN THE OPEN OR SEEK
SHELTER UNDER TREES WHEN LIGHTNING THREATENS...MOVE INDOORS WHEN A
THUNDERSTORM APPROACHES.

THESE STORMS WILL BE NEAR THE VIRGINIA...NORTH CAROLINA BORDER
AROUND 130 PM...THEN MOVE INTO THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHWEST NORTH
CAROLINA...AND ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY INTO THE NORTHWEST
PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA AFTER 200 PM.

LAT...LON 3643 8172 3646 8172 3647 8170 3654 8171
      3658 8169 3664 8160 3665 8155 3668 8153
      3678 8096 3652 8054 3616 8151 3633 8172
      3640 8175

The office that day

Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 24, 1:50 PM EDT	Flash Flood Watch	RNK	Bland, Grayson, Smyth, Tazewell, Wythe	3 hr
Jul 24, 5:17 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	Buckingham	58 min
Jul 24, 1:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Alleghany, Ashe, Wilkes	56 min
Jul 24, 2:45 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	Watauga	45 min

Nearby

Special Weather Statements in Virginia, 2012 Special Weather Statements in North Carolina, 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.