Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Baltimore/Washington

June 18, 1997Frederick County, Shenandoah County, Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this tornado warning at Jun 18, 1997, 4:29 PM EDT for Frederick County, Shenandoah County, Virginia. It was in force for 31 min. 2 reports 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: Jun 18, 1997, 4:29 PM EDT (20:29 UTC)
Expired: Jun 18, 1997, 5:00 PM EDT
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area: Whole counties

Counties Frederick County, VA, Shenandoah County, VA

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:33 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jun 18, 4:30 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	South Portion, VA
Jun 18, 4:42 PM EDT	Tornado F0	Dbl Tollgate, VA

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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jun 18, 4:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 88 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: 392 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -95 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 671 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 156 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 219 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KWBC 182026 RRA
TORWBC
VAC069-171-182100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STERLING VA
429 PM EDT WED JUN 18 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHWESTERN VIRGINIA

   ...NORTHERN SHENANDOAH COUNTY
   ...FREDERICK COUNTY IN VIRGINIA
 
AT 425 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM OVER NORTHERNMOST SHENANDOAH COUNTY JUST NORTH OF
THE JUNCTION OF I-81 AND I-66. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST
AT 25 MPH.
 
PEOPLE IN THE ABOVE LOCATIONS ARE IN THE PROJECTED PATH OF THE
TORNADO AND SHOULD TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.  MOVE INSIDE A STORM
CELLAR...A BASEMENT...OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOUSE.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 18, 4:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Warren	49 min
Jun 18, 4:47 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Clarke	33 min
Jun 18, 5:01 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Loudoun	59 min
Jun 18, 5:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Fauquier	49 min
Jun 18, 5:15 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Loudoun	30 min
Jun 18, 5:26 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Frederick, Shenandoah	59 min
Jun 18, 5:26 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Clarke	59 min
Jun 18, 5:33 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Loudoun	47 min
Jun 18, 5:50 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Loudoun	2 hr
Jun 18, 6:02 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Fairfax	33 min
Jun 18, 6:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Frederick	60 min
Jun 18, 6:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Fairfax	31 min
Jun 18, 6:46 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Fauquier, Prince William	49 min
Jun 18, 6:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Arlington, City of Falls Church	48 min
Jun 18, 7:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	King George	59 min
Jun 18, 7:37 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Fairfax, City of Fairfax	63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.