Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Watches in 2014

Tornado Watch 222

June 4, 20144 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 4, 2014, 8:00 PM EDT for 4 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 4, 2014, 8:00 PM EDT (00:00 UTC)
Expired
Jun 5, 2014, 1:50 AM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 80 counties

Alexander County, NC, Alleghany County, NC, Ashe County, NC, Avery County, NC, Buncombe County, NC, Burke County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Catawba County, NC, Haywood County, NC, Iredell County, NC, Madison County, NC, McDowell County, NC, Mitchell County, NC, Surry County, NC, Swain County, NC, Watauga County, NC, Wilkes County, NC, Yadkin County, NC, Yancey County, NC, Anderson County, TN, Blount County, TN, Campbell County, TN, Carter County, TN, Claiborne County, TN, Cocke County, TN, Grainger County, TN, Greene County, TN, Hamblen County, TN, Hancock County, TN, Hawkins County, TN, Jefferson County, TN, Johnson County, TN, Knox County, TN, Loudon County, TN, Morgan County, TN, Roane County, TN, Scott County, TN, Sevier County, TN, Sullivan County, TN, Unicoi County, TN, Union County, TN, Washington County, TN, Alleghany County, VA, Amherst County, VA, Bath County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Bland County, VA, Botetourt County, VA, Carroll County, VA, City of Bristol, VA, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Covington, VA, City of Galax, VA, City of Lexington, VA, City of Norton, VA, City of Radford, VA, City of Roanoke, VA, City of Salem, VA, Craig County, VA, Floyd County, VA, Franklin County, VA, Giles County, VA, Grayson County, VA, Lee County, VA, Montgomery County, VA, Patrick County, VA, Pulaski County, VA, Roanoke County, VA, Rockbridge County, VA, Russell County, VA, Scott County, VA, Smyth County, VA, Tazewell County, VA, Washington County, VA, Wise County, VA, Wythe County, VA, Greenbrier County, WV, Mercer County, WV, Monroe County, WV, Summers County, WV

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:02 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.

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
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

5 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 4, 8:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAmherst, Botetourt, Rockbridge, City of Buena Vista, City of Lexington56 min
Jun 4, 9:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAvery, Burke, Caldwell, McDowell, Mitchell42 min
Jun 4, 9:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAlleghany, Botetourt, City of Covington36 min
Jun 4, 10:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAlexander, Caldwell, Iredell29 min
Jun 5, 12:52 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRNKAlleghany6 hr

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, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 177 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Roanoke, VA at 00:00Z on 2014-06-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1089 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Roanoke, VA at 00:00Z on 2014-06-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 123 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
1089 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1162 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
123 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
342 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
5.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

381 
WWUS20 KWNS 050001
SEL2  
SPC WW 050001
NCZ000-TNZ000-VAZ000-WVZ000-050700-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 222
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
800 PM EDT WED JUN 4 2014

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
  EASTERN TENNESSEE
  WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
  SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA

* EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FROM 800 PM
  UNTIL 300 AM EDT.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE
  SCATTERED LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE
  ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 75 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES NORTHEAST OF WHITE
SULPHUR SPRINGS WEST VIRGINIA TO 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF HOT
SPRINGS NORTH CAROLINA.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH
SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH
AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

&&

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 218...WW 219...WW
220...WW 221...

DISCUSSION...CLUSTERS OF SEMI-DISCRETE STORMS/SUPERCELLS EXPECTED TO
PERSIST ALONG THE W SLOPES OF THE SRN APPALACHIANS THROUGH LATE
EVE...WITH ADDITIONAL STORMS POSSIBLY MOVING/DEVELOPING EWD INTO WRN
AND SW VA AS MID-LVL SPEED MAX AND ASSOCIATED UVV FIELD OVERSPREAD
MOIST/CONFLUENT LOW--LVL FLOW.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 30030.


...CORFIDI

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 4, 10:45 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlleghany, Ashe, Avery, Burke, Caldwell, McDowell and 5 more2 hr
Jun 5, 12:47 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Craven, Currituck and 24 more58 min
Jun 5, 1:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBeaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 21 more7 hr
Jun 5, 3:48 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Chowan and 28 more57 min
Jun 4, 8:24 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCBenton, Cannon, Carroll, Cheatham, Clay, Cumberland and 28 more8 hr
Jun 5, 12:53 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBedford, Benton, Bledsoe, Bradley, Cannon, Carroll and 46 more97 min
Jun 5, 3:14 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBedford, Coffee, Decatur, Franklin, Giles, Grundy and 8 more91 min
Jun 5, 10:27 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCarroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette and 14 more63 min
Jun 5, 11:06 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBenton, Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer and 15 more7 hr
Jun 5, 2:22 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer and 16 more53 min
Jun 5, 3:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBedford, Bledsoe, Bradley, Cannon, Cheatham, Coffee and 28 more6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2014Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 2014Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2014Every tornado watch in 2014

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.