Alert archive / Maryland / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Baltimore/Washington

March 29, 1997Frederick County, Maryland

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 29, 1997, 12:01 PM EST for Frederick County, Maryland. It was in force for 59 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Mar 29, 1997, 12:01 PM EST (17:01 UTC)
Expired
Mar 29, 1997, 1:00 PM EST
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area
Whole counties

County Frederick County, MD

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:00 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 29, 12:15 PM ESTHail 1.5Frederick, MD

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 244 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 1997-03-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 301 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 1997-03-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 89 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
301 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-49 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
433 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
89 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
117 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KWBC 291701 RRA
SVRWBC
MDC021-291800-

BULLETIN -IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STERLING VA
1201 PM EST SAT MAR 29 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 100 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WEST CENTRAL MARYLAND

   ...NORTHERN FREDERICK COUNTY IN MARYLAND
 
AT 1157 AM EST...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY STERLING
DOPPLER RADAR 14 MILES WEST OF THURMONT OR 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF
PLEASANT WALK MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

THIS STORM IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE FOLLOWING COMMUNITIES FROM
1157 AM EST TO 100 PM EST ... CASCADE...EMMITSBURG...
FOXVILLE AND THURMONT.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...HAIL OVER 1 INCH IN
DIAMETER...VERY HEAVY RAIN AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE
STORM HA*S PASSED.

WOODCOCK/THEDE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 29, 11:48 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXWashington32 min
Mar 29, 1:25 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCharles45 min
Mar 29, 1:36 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCalvert, Saint Mary's64 min
Mar 29, 2:01 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXHarford34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Maryland, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.