Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Baltimore/Washington

May 10, 1995Stafford County, Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this tornado warning at May 10, 1995, 7:01 PM EDT for Stafford County, Virginia. It was in force for 29 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 10, 1995, 7:01 PM EDT (23:01 UTC)
Expired
May 10, 1995, 7:30 PM EDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area
Whole counties

County Stafford County, VA

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 62 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:02 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, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 59 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 1995-05-10Temperature 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°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 1995-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 92 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
600 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
87 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 102302
TORWBC
VAC179-102330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WASHINGTON DC
701 PM EDT WED MAY 10 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WASHINGTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL VIRGINIA
 
   ...STAFFORD COUNTY
 
AND ADJACENT WATERS OF THE TIDAL POTOMAC RIVER
 
 
AT 700 PM TWO SEPARATE WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD 2 MILES
NORTH OF FREDERICKSBURG IN STAFFORD COUNTY.
 
DOPPLER RADAR ALSO INDICATES A STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN THE AREA POSSIBLY
CONTAINING A TORNADO.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
WALSTON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 10, 4:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXRappahannock67 min
May 10, 5:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXShenandoah67 min
May 10, 6:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCulpeper, Fauquier60 min
May 10, 6:14 PM EDTTornado WarningLWXCulpeper, Spotsylvania31 min
May 10, 6:14 PM EDTTornado WarningLWXOrange16 min
May 10, 6:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXShenandoah58 min
May 10, 7:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXFrederick69 min
May 10, 7:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXPage40 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes 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.