NORFOLK, Va. — It's Virginia's Severe Weather Awareness Week and today's topic is about severe thunderstorms and all of the hazards they bring, such as frequent lightning, large hail, and damaging wind gusts.
To achieve a severe thunderstorm warning, those hazards must reach a certain threshold, particularly the wind and hail criteria.
For a base severe thunderstorm warning, the winds must exceed 58 mph and/or quarter-sized hail. A considerable tag accompanying the warning suggests the winds will be gusting over 70 mph and/or golf ball-sized hail.
A destructive tag on the severe thunderstorm warning indicates damaging winds in excess of 80mph and/or baseball-sized hail. This will then trigger emergency alerts on devices including the 13News Now app.
Lead time in terms of severe weather typically is very good, thanks to in-depth outlooks put out by the Storm Prediction Center sometimes highlighting threats 3 or more days out.
The threat for severe weather will be outlined in terms of threat levels from 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest threat and 5 being the greatest.
Aside from gusty, damaging winds that can topple trees, destroy property, and disrupt electricity services, hail is one of the costliest in terms of the damage it causes.
Hail storms are very rare here in Virginia but in other parts of the country where storm ingredients favor large hail growth, you could see multi-billion dollar damages from a single hail storm.
Typically, in Virginia hail in severe thunderstorms doesn't exceed 1.5" in most occurrences. In other parts of the country, you may find baseball-sized hail or larger!
With severe weather season in Hampton Roads fast approaching, it's best to stay weather aware and practice "When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors".