Alert archive / Virginia / Special Weather Statements in 2021

Special Weather Statement, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 4, 20215 counties in Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this special weather statement at May 4, 2021, 12:31 PM EDT for 5 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 29 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
May 4, 2021, 12:31 PM EDT (16:31 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 2021, 1:00 PM EDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA

Counties Bland County, VA, Grayson County, VA, Smyth County, VA, Tazewell County, VA, Wythe County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:34 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, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 171 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 2021-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 649 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 12:00Z on 2021-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 116 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
649 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-120 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
750 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
105 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

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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 May 4, 9:51 AM EDT, 2 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 4, 9:51 AM EDT, 2 hours 40 minutes before
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  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
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  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
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        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
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Hazardous weather outlook, May 4, 3:58 AM EDT, 8 hours 33 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Blacksburg VA
358 AM EDT Tue May 4 2021

NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059-
WVZ042>044-507-508-050800-
Ashe-Alleghany NC-Surry-Stokes-Rockingham-Caswell-Watauga-Wilkes-
Yadkin-Tazewell-Smyth-Bland-Giles-Wythe-Pulaski-Montgomery-Grayson-
Carroll-Floyd-Craig-Alleghany VA-Bath-Roanoke-Botetourt-Rockbridge-
Patrick-Franklin-Bedford-Amherst-Henry-Pittsylvania-Campbell-
Appomattox-Buckingham-Halifax-Charlotte-Mercer-Summers-Monroe-
Eastern Greenbrier-Western Greenbrier-
358 AM EDT Tue May 4 2021

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for north central North Carolina,
northwest North Carolina, central Virginia, south central Virginia,
southwest Virginia, west central Virginia and southeast West
Virginia.

.DAY ONE...Today and tonight.

There is a marginal risk for severe storms today.  The main
threat is damaging thunderstorm winds.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday.

There is a low probability for widespread hazardous weather.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation may be needed today.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 4, 12:05 PM EDT, 26 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service BLACKSBURG VA
1205 PM EDT Tue May 4 2021

VAZ007-009-015-041630-
Tazewell-Grayson-Smyth-
1205 PM EDT Tue May 4 2021

...A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT SMYTH...TAZEWELL
AND GRAYSON COUNTIES...

At 1204 PM EDT, radar indicated showers and thunderstorms were
located along a line extending from near Coleman to near Bristol Tn.
Movement was east at 40 mph.

Winds in excess of 40 mph and pea size hail are possible with these
storms.

Locations impacted include...
Marion...
Richlands...
Tazewell...
Saltville...
Chilhowie...
Cedar Bluff...
and Independence.

Torrential rainfall is also occurring with these storms, and may
cause localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.

LAT...LON 3720 8176 3724 8174 3720 8168 3721 8156
      3727 8145 3706 8134 3703 8146 3690 8133
      3677 8126 3676 8119 3676 8118 3657 8108
      3660 8165 3664 8161 3679 8170 3693 8183
      3696 8178 3705 8182 3711 8189 3715 8190
TIME...MOT...LOC 1604Z 265DEG 36KT 3747 8215 3657 8214

KK
Special weather statement, May 4, 12:31 PM EDT, 0 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service BLACKSBURG VA
1231 PM EDT Tue May 4 2021

VAZ007-009-010-012-015-WVZ042-041700-
Tazewell-Grayson-Bland-Wythe-Smyth-Mercer-
1231 PM EDT Tue May 4 2021

...A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT
SMYTH...TAZEWELL...BLAND...WYTHE...GRAYSON AND MERCER COUNTIES...

At 1230 PM EDT, radar indicated showers and thunderstorms were
located along a line extending from near Hanover to 8 miles north of
Mountain City. Movement was east at 35 mph.

Winds in excess of 40 mph and pea size hail are possible with these
storms.

Locations impacted include...
Bluefield...
Wytheville...
Bland...
Princeton...
Marion...
Richlands...
and Tazewell.

Torrential rainfall is also occurring with these storms, and may
cause localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.

LAT...LON 3724 8174 3720 8168 3721 8156 3726 8150
      3727 8142 3742 8131 3742 8128 3746 8131
      3751 8121 3757 8120 3759 8116 3682 8100
      3681 8104 3673 8098 3657 8095 3659 8168
      3664 8161 3693 8183 3696 8178 3713 8190
TIME...MOT...LOC 1630Z 273DEG 31KT 3750 8181 3660 8180

KK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 12:05 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementRNKGrayson, Smyth, Tazewell25 min
May 4, 1:23 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementRNKRockbridge, City of Buena Vista, City of Lexington37 min
May 4, 1:30 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementRNKBland, Craig, Floyd, Giles, Montgomery, Pulaski and 4 more30 min
May 4, 1:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKCarroll, Floyd, Montgomery, Pulaski, City of Radford49 min
May 4, 1:53 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementRNKAlleghany, City of Covington37 min
May 4, 2:01 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementRNKRockbridge14 min
May 4, 2:10 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementRNKCity of Roanoke, City of Salem35 min
May 4, 2:12 PM EDTAreal Flood AdvisoryRNKBedford, Franklin, Montgomery, Roanoke, City of Roanoke, City of Salem2 hr
May 4, 2:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAlleghany, Bath, Botetourt, Rockbridge, City of Lexington60 min
May 4, 2:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKBedford, Botetourt, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Montgomery and 3 more53 min
May 4, 2:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAmherst, Bedford, Botetourt, Campbell, Rockbridge, City of Buena Vista and 1 more67 min
May 4, 3:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAlleghany, Amherst, Botetourt, Rockbridge, City of Lexington40 min
May 4, 3:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAmherst, Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell55 min
May 4, 3:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAppomattox, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte55 min
May 4, 4:11 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementRNKBuckingham34 min
May 4, 3:23 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementRNKRockingham37 min
May 4, 3:55 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementRNKCaswell35 min

Nearby

Special Weather Statements in Virginia, 2021Every special weather statement 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.