Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Baltimore/Washington

May 18, 1995Fairfax County, Virginia; Montgomery County, Maryland

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1995, 1:53 PM EDT for Fairfax County, Virginia; Montgomery County, Maryland. It was in force for 37 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 18, 1995, 1:53 PM EDT (17:53 UTC)
Expired: May 18, 1995, 2:30 PM EDT
In force: 37 min
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area: Whole counties

Counties Montgomery County, MD, Fairfax County, VA

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 21 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:52 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 14 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: 3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -98 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 947 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 93 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 174 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KWBC 181750
SVRWBC
MDC031-VAC059-600-181830-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WASHINGTON DC
153 PM EDT THU MAY 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WASHINGTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN  MARYLAND
 
   ...SOUTHERN MONTGOMERY COUNTY
 
IN NORTH VIRGINIA
 
   ...FAIRFAX COUNTY
 
  AND THE INDEPENDENT CITY OF
 
   ...FAIRFAX CITY
 
WEATHER RADAR IS SHOWING A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH WINDS NEAR 60 MPH
OVER WESTERN FAIRFAX COUNTY BETWEEN CHANTILLY AND HERNDON. MOVEMENT WAS
EAST AT 40 MPH.
 
EXPECT HIGH WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAIN AS THE STORM MOVES THROUGH.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW BWATER CROSSINGS.
 
HITCHENS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Baltimore/Washington issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 18, 12:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Clarke, Warren	38 min
May 18, 1:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Fauquier, Loudoun	25 min
May 18, 1:37 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Nelson	23 min
May 18, 2:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Arlington, Fairfax	39 min
May 18, 12:44 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Washington	31 min
May 18, 2:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Prince George's	32 min
May 18, 2:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Charles	31 min
May 18, 2:39 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Anne Arundel, Calvert, Prince George's	51 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 1995 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Maryland, 1995 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1995

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.