Alert archive / West Virginia / Snow Squall Warnings in 2021

Snow Squall Warning 3, NWS Charleston, WV

January 16, 20216 counties in West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this snow squall warning at Jan 16, 2021, 4:42 PM EST for 6 counties in West Virginia. It was in force for 33 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, 4:42 PM EST (21:42 UTC)
Expired
Jan 16, 2021, 5:15 PM EST
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Storm-based polygon

Counties Braxton County, WV, Calhoun County, WV, Clay County, WV, Gilmer County, WV, Kanawha County, WV, Roane County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:44 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 204 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, Pittsburgh, PA 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2021-01-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -17 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
678 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
25 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

079 
WWUS51 KRLX 162142
SQWRLX

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

WVC007-013-015-021-039-087-162215-
/O.NEW.KRLX.SQ.W.0003.210116T2142Z-210116T2215Z/
Calhoun WV-Kanawha WV-Gilmer WV-Braxton WV-Roane WV-Clay WV-
442 PM EST Sat Jan 16 2021

The National Weather Service in Charleston West Virginia has issued a

* Snow Squall Warning for...
  Calhoun County in central West Virginia...
  Northeastern Kanawha County in central West Virginia...
  Southwestern Gilmer County in central West Virginia...
  West central Braxton County in central West Virginia...
  Roane County in central West Virginia...
  Northwestern Clay County in central West Virginia...

* Until 515 PM EST.

* At 440 PM EST, a dangerous snow squall was located along a line
  extending from near Spencer to 6 miles northwest of Clendenin,
  moving east at 25 mph.

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

  SOURCE...Radar and webcams.

  IMPACT...Dangerous travel.

* This includes Interstate 79 between mile markers 14 and 47.
 
Locations impacted include...
Spencer, Grantsville, Clendenin, Arnoldsburg, Big Otter, Wallback,
Amma, Nebo, Shock, Millstone, Procious, Rosedale, Mount Zion, Left
Hand, Ivydale, Stumptown, Tariff, Servia, Walton and Orma.

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 3893 8087 3854 8094 3843 8144 3890 8139
TIME...MOT...LOC 2140Z 272DEG 24KT 3886 8137 3856 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, 4:36 PM ESTSnow Squall WarningRLXClay, Fayette, Kanawha, Nicholas24 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.