Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2016
Severe Thunderstorm Watch 135
The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 1, 2016, 7:45 PM EDT for 21 counties in Virginia; 4 counties in West Virginia. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 1, 2016, 7:45 PM EDT (23:45 UTC)
- Expired
- May 1, 2016, 11:03 PM EDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 25 counties
Alleghany County, VA, Bath County, VA, Bland County, VA, Botetourt County, VA, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Covington, VA, City of Lexington, 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, Montgomery County, VA, Pulaski County, VA, Roanoke County, VA, Rockbridge County, VA, Smyth County, VA, Tazewell County, VA, Wythe County, VA, Greenbrier County, WV, Mercer County, WV, Monroe County, WV, Summers County, WV
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:47 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
- 10%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 2%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 30%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 10%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 30%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 30%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 60%
Warnings issued inside it
3 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 7:47 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Monroe, Summers | 43 min |
| May 1, 8:15 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RNK | Greenbrier, Summers | 6 hr |
| May 1, 8:42 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Alleghany, Bath, Botetourt, Craig, City of Covington | 33 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 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 93 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 468 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 389 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 480 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 3:59 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Buchanan, Dickenson | 61 min |
| May 1, 7:30 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alleghany, Bedford, Bland, Botetourt, Buchanan, Carroll and 19 more | 60 min |
| May 1, 4:12 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Boone, Cabell, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan and 5 more | 6 hr |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Virginia, 2016Severe Thunderstorm Watches in West Virginia, 2016Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2016
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.