Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Watches in 1999

Tornado Watch 69

March 3, 19997 counties in Maryland; 57 counties in Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 3, 1999, 4:45 PM EST for 7 counties in Maryland; 57 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 3, 1999, 4:45 PM EST (21:45 UTC)
Expired
Mar 3, 1999, 9:00 PM EST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 64 counties

Calvert County, MD, Charles County, MD, Dorchester County, MD, Saint Mary's County, MD, Somerset County, MD, Wicomico County, MD, Worcester County, MD, Accomack County, VA, Amelia County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Fredericksburg, VA, City of Hampton, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Newport News, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Poquoson, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Richmond, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, City of Williamsburg, VA, Culpeper County, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Gloucester County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, James City County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King George County, VA, King William County, VA, Lancaster County, VA, Louisa County, VA, Lunenburg County, VA, Mathews County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Northampton County, VA, Northumberland County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Orange County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, Westmoreland County, VA, York County, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:44 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.

Warnings issued inside it

17 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 3, 5:21 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQGreensville, City of Emporia19 min
Mar 3, 5:31 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCity of Colonial Heights, City of Petersburg19 min
Mar 3, 5:35 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQChesterfield20 min
Mar 3, 5:40 PM ESTTornado WarningAKQCity of Colonial Heights, City of Petersburg20 min
Mar 3, 5:41 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCulpeper, Rappahannock34 min
Mar 3, 5:49 PM ESTTornado WarningAKQChesterfield, Henrico31 min
Mar 3, 5:59 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQHanover, King William36 min
Mar 3, 6:15 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQHanover, Henrico35 min
Mar 3, 6:22 PM ESTTornado WarningAKQKing and Queen33 min
Mar 3, 6:30 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCaroline15 min
Mar 3, 6:38 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCity of Norfolk17 min
Mar 3, 6:38 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCity of Hampton17 min
Mar 3, 6:40 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQGloucester30 min
Mar 3, 6:43 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQMathews32 min
Mar 3, 6:43 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQEssex, Middlesex32 min
Mar 3, 6:46 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQLancaster, Richmond34 min
Mar 3, 6:50 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQNorthumberland, Westmoreland30 min

The nearest sounding before it

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 169 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 1999-03-03Temperature 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 1999-03-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 179 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
1852 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
246 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 3, 6:30 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAnne Arundel, Baltimore, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Frederick and 9 more7 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Virginia, 1999Tornado Watches in Maryland, 1999Every tornado watch in 1999

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.