Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2025

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 59, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 16, 2025Appomattox County, Buckingham County, Virginia

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 2025, 4:01 PM EDT for Appomattox County, Buckingham County, 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 counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 16, 2025, 4:01 PM EDT (20:01 UTC)
Expired: May 16, 2025, 4:34 PM EDT
In force: 33 min
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Storm-based polygon
Hail: 1.0 in
Wind: 60.0 mph

Counties Appomattox County, VA, Buckingham County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 150 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:00 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 16, 3:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 79 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 486 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -63 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 789 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 180 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 232 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 3.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 16, 3:52 PM EDT, 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 16, 3:52 PM EDT, 9 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, May 16, 3:39 PM EDT, 22 minutes before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, May 16, 2:47 PM EDT, 1 hour 14 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 16, 3:00 PM EDT, 1 hour 1 minute before

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Local storm report, May 16, 3:12 PM EDT, 49 minutes before

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Special weather statement, May 16, 3:14 PM EDT, 47 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 16, 3:43 PM EDT, 18 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 16, 3:52 PM EDT, 9 minutes before

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The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 1:14 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	Bland	31 min
May 16, 1:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Bland, Smyth, Tazewell, Wythe	59 min
May 16, 2:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	RNK	Bland, Craig, Giles, Montgomery, Pulaski, Wythe and 1 more	64 min
May 16, 2:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Bland, Smyth, Tazewell, Wythe	63 min
May 16, 3:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Bedford, Botetourt, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Giles and 6 more	55 min
May 16, 3:14 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	Amherst, City of Buena Vista	16 min
May 16, 3:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Carroll, Grayson, Smyth, Tazewell, Wythe, City of Galax	54 min
May 16, 3:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Bedford, Franklin, Pittsylvania	64 min
May 16, 3:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Henry, Pittsylvania, City of Danville, City of Martinsville	20 min
May 16, 4:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	RNK	Carroll, Floyd, Franklin, Henry, Patrick, City of Martinsville	65 min
May 16, 4:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Charlotte, Halifax, Henry, Pittsylvania, City of Danville	62 min
May 16, 5:19 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	RNK	Caswell	26 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 2025 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2025

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.