Alert archive / West Virginia / Snow Squall Warnings in 2021

Snow Squall Warning 2, NWS Charleston, WV

January 16, 20214 counties in West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this snow squall warning at Jan 16, 2021, 4:36 PM EST for 4 counties in West Virginia. It was in force for 24 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
Jan 16, 2021, 4:36 PM EST (21:36 UTC)
Expired
Jan 16, 2021, 5:00 PM EST
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Storm-based polygon

Counties Clay County, WV, Fayette County, WV, Kanawha County, WV, Nicholas County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:38 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, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 199 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 12:00Z on 2021-01-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 2021-01-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -64 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
905 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
73 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
109 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

242 
WWUS51 KRLX 162136
SQWRLX

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Snow Squall Warning
National Weather Service Charleston WV
436 PM EST Sat Jan 16 2021

WVC015-019-039-067-162200-
/O.NEW.KRLX.SQ.W.0002.210116T2136Z-210116T2200Z/
Nicholas WV-Kanawha WV-Clay WV-Fayette WV-
436 PM EST Sat Jan 16 2021

The National Weather Service in Charleston West Virginia has issued a

* Snow Squall Warning for...
  West central Nicholas County in central West Virginia...

  East central Kanawha County in central West Virginia...
  Southwestern Clay County in central West Virginia...
  Northwestern Fayette County in central West Virginia...

* Until 500 PM EST.

* At 431 PM EST, a dangerous snow squall was located along a line
  extending from Pinch to Glasgow, moving east at 30 mph.

  HAZARD...Extremely poor visibility in heavy snow and blowing snow. 
           Wind gusts up to 30 mph.

  SOURCE...Radar and webcams.

  IMPACT...Dangerous life-threatening travel.

* This includes West Virginia Turnpike between mile markers 80 and
  81.
 
Locations impacted include...
Clay, Montgomery, Cedar Grove, East Bank, Glasgow, Smithers, Gauley
Bridge, Pratt, Pinch, Glen, Handley, Bickmore, Swiss, Indore, Sharon,
Bentree and Pond Gap.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Reduce your speed and turn on headlights! During snow squalls, the
visibility may suddenly drop to near zero in whiteout conditions.

&&

LAT...LON 3851 8109 3819 8097 3816 8145 3841 8152
TIME...MOT...LOC 2131Z 265DEG 26KT 3839 8149 3821 8141 

$$

12

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 16, 2:29 AM ESTWinter Weather AdvisoryRLXNicholas, Pocahontas, Randolph, Webster31 hr
Jan 16, 2:33 PM ESTSnow Squall WarningRLXKanawha27 min
Jan 16, 4:42 PM ESTSnow Squall WarningRLXBraxton, Calhoun, Clay, Gilmer, Kanawha, Roane33 min
Jan 16, 5:44 PM ESTSnow Squall WarningRLXBraxton, Clay, Gilmer, Lewis, Nicholas, Upshur and 1 more31 min

Nearby

Snow Squall Warnings in West Virginia, 2021Every snow squall warning in 2021

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.