Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 261

May 10, 20005 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 10, 2000, 3:45 PM EDT for 5 states. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 10, 2000, 3:45 PM EDT (19:45 UTC)
Expired
May 10, 2000, 9:00 PM EDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 86 counties

New Castle County, DE, Anne Arundel County, MD, Baltimore County, MD, Calvert County, MD, Caroline County, MD, Carroll County, MD, Cecil County, MD, Charles County, MD, City of Baltimore, MD, Dorchester County, MD, Frederick County, MD, Harford County, MD, Howard County, MD, Kent County, MD, Montgomery County, MD, Prince George's County, MD, Queen Anne's County, MD, Saint Mary's County, MD, Talbot County, MD, Salem County, NJ, Albemarle County, VA, Amelia County, VA, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Arlington County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Alexandria, VA, City of Charlottesville, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Danville, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Fairfax, VA, City of Falls Church, VA, City of Fredericksburg, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Manassas, VA, City of Manassas Park, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Richmond, VA, Clarke County, VA, Culpeper County, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Fairfax County, VA, Fauquier County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Greene County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King George County, VA, King William County, VA, Loudoun County, VA, Louisa County, VA, Lunenburg County, VA, Madison County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA, Nelson County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Orange County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Prince William County, VA, Rappahannock County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Sussex County, VA, Warren County, VA, Westmoreland County, VA, Jefferson County, WV

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 130 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:45 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 10, 3:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXBaltimore, Carroll51 min
May 10, 4:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXLoudoun45 min
May 10, 4:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXFrederick, Montgomery49 min
May 10, 4:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXFauquier, Prince William45 min
May 10, 4:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXHoward44 min
May 10, 4:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXBaltimore, Howard, Montgomery47 min
May 10, 4:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCity of Baltimore47 min
May 10, 4:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCulpeper, Madison, Orange52 min
May 10, 4:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXFairfax, Prince William, City of Fairfax, City of Falls Church47 min
May 10, 4:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCity of Manassas, City of Manassas Park47 min
May 10, 5:06 PM EDTTornado WarningLWXBaltimore24 min
May 10, 5:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXFauquier, Stafford45 min
May 10, 5:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQLouisa32 min
May 10, 5:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHINew Castle27 min
May 10, 5:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXSpotsylvania40 min
May 10, 5:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXArlington, Fairfax, Prince William, City of Alexandria47 min
May 10, 5:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXPrince George's46 min
May 10, 6:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHINew Castle30 min
May 10, 6:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCharles49 min
May 10, 6:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXKing George38 min
May 10, 6:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCalvert42 min
May 10, 6:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCharles, Saint Mary's39 min
May 10, 7:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQEssex, Richmond, Westmoreland33 min
May 10, 7:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQKing and Queen, King William31 min
May 10, 7:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQKing and Queen, Middlesex43 min
May 10, 7:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQLancaster, Northumberland, Richmond43 min
May 10, 8:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQGloucester, King and Queen33 min

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 136 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2000-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 825 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2000-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -13 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
825 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-122 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1518 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
69 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

623 
WWUS9 KMKC 101927
SEL1  

SEL1  
MKC WW 101922
DCZ000-DEZ000-MDZ000-VAZ000-110100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 261
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
322 PM EDT WED MAY 10 2000

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
   DELAWARE                           
   EASTERN MARYLAND                           
   CENTRAL AND EASTERN VIRGINIA                           

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 345 PM UNTIL
900 PM EDT.

HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70
MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES
EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES EAST OF DANVILLE VIRGINIA TO
40 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF BALTIMORE MARYLAND.

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 259...WW 260...

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE AND BUILD SOUTHWARD AS
UPPER TROUGH AND COLD FRONT APPROACH AXIS OF 2000 TO 3000 J/KG
CAPES. APPROACHING 50 KT MID LEVEL SPEED MAX COMBINED WITH STEEP
LAPSE RATES WILL PROVIDE POTENTIAL FOR WIDELY SCATTERED HAIL AND
DAMAGING WIND EVETNS.

AVIATION...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT
TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60
KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.  MEAN STORM
MOTION VECTOR 24035.

...ROGASH

394,0745 363,0772 363,0795 394,0773

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 10, 11:15 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCNew Castle6 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Virginia, 2000Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Maryland, 2000Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Delaware, 2000Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2000

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.