Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Baltimore/Washington

February 17, 1998Spotsylvania County, City of Fredericksburg, Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this tornado warning at Feb 17, 1998, 9:11 PM EST for Spotsylvania County, City of Fredericksburg, Virginia. It was in force for 34 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: Feb 17, 1998, 9:11 PM EST (02:11 UTC)
Expired: Feb 17, 1998, 9:45 PM EST
In force: 34 min
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area: Whole counties

Counties City of Fredericksburg, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:14 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
Feb 17, 9:13 PM EST	Hail 2	Snell, VA
Feb 17, 9:15 PM EST	Tornado F1	Snell, 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 nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 80 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: -197 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 513 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 77 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 390 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 445 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KWBC 180211 RRA
TORWBC
VAC177-630-180245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON DC
911 PM EST TUE FEB 17 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON DC HAS ISSUED
A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 945 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA

   ...SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY

IN ERN VIRGINIA THE INDEPENDENT CITY OF

   ...FREDERICKSBURG
 
AT 910 PM EST...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY
BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON DOPPLER RADAR 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
SPOTSYLVANIA OR IN THE VICINITY OF GATEWOOD MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35
MPH.

THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE FOLLOWING COMMUNITIES
GATEWOOD... PENNEYS CROSSROAD... POST OAK... SNELL... THORNBURG...
SPOTSYLVANIA AND STANDARDS MILL.
 
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.

DDT/RDH

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 17, 7:59 PM EST	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Culpeper, Fauquier	2 hr
Feb 17, 7:59 PM EST	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Orange	2 hr
Feb 17, 8:44 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Spotsylvania, City of Fredericksburg	66 min
Feb 17, 9:31 PM EST	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Spotsylvania, Stafford, City of Fredericksburg	2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes in 1998

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.