Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Baltimore/Washington
NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this tornado warning at Jun 18, 1997, 4:47 PM EDT for Clarke County, Virginia. It was in force for 33 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, 4:47 PM EDT (20:47 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 18, 1997, 5:20 PM EDT
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Baltimore/Washington
- Area
- Whole counties
County Clarke County, VA
The radar
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:52 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 18, 4:55 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | South Portion, VA | |
| Jun 18, 5:02 PM EDT | Tornado F0 | Berryville, 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, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 55 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KWBC 182045 RRA TORWBC VAC043-182120- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STERLING VA 447 PM EDT WED JUN 18 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 520 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTHWESTERN VIRGINIA ...SOUTHERN CLARKE COUNTY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN SOUTHERN FREDERICK COUNTY MOVING INTO CLARKE COUNTY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IN A HOME OR BUSINESS IS AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Baltimore/Washington issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 18, 4:29 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LWX | Frederick, Shenandoah | 31 min |
| Jun 18, 4:41 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Warren | 49 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, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.