Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Baltimore/Washington

March 13, 2001Arlington County, Fairfax County, City of Alexandria, Virginia; Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Maryland

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 13, 2001, 9:35 PM EST for Arlington County, Fairfax County, City of Alexandria, Virginia; Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Maryland. It was in force for 40 min. 6 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: Mar 13, 2001, 9:35 PM EST (02:35 UTC)
Expired: Mar 13, 2001, 10:15 PM EST
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area: Whole counties

Counties Montgomery County, MD, Prince George's County, MD, Arlington County, VA, City of Alexandria, VA, Fairfax County, VA

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Mar 13, 9:45 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 57 E	Damascus, MD	A wind gust of 65 MPH was estimated.
Mar 13, 9:46 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 54 M	Reston, VA	Winds gusted to 62 MPH
Mar 13, 9:50 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 52 M	Arlington, VA	A wind gust of 60 MPH was recorded at Jefferson Middle School.
Mar 13, 9:50 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Arlington, VA	Trees were downed.
Mar 13, 9:58 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Countywide, MD	Trees and wires were damaged.
Mar 13, 10:00 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Springfield, VA	A 10 year old church steeple was downed.

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, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 27 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 2640 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 86 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 79 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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Baltimore/Washington wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Mar 13, 8:19 PM EST, 1 hour 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 13, 8:19 PM EST, 1 hour 16 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
819 PM EST TUE MAR 13 2001

SHRA/TSTM ENTERING CWFA ATTM. WL RAISE POPS ENTIRE AREA. EMPH ON
BRIEF HVY RA...BUT ELVTD RUMBLE OF THUNDER PSBL...ESP W. ZFP/RDF TO
FLLW.

.LWX...SMALL CRAFT ADVSRY UPR CHES BAY AND PTMC.

HTS

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 13, 8:05 PM EST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042-
050>057-WVZ048>055-140400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON
805 PM EST TUE MAR 13 2001

...WIND GUSTS TO 50 MILES PER HOUR LIKELY TONIGHT...

A FINAL LINE OF SHOWERS WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS THE REGION BETWEEN 8 PM
AND 1030 PM TONIGHT. THIS LINE WILL BRING A STRONG GUST OF WIND WITH
BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL.  WEST AND NORTHWEST WINDS WILL GUST AS
HIGH AS 50 MILES PER HOUR WITH THE SHOWERS.

THIS BAND OF GUSTY SHOWERS WILL ENTER THE EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA
PANHANDLE AND WESTERN MARYLAND AROUND 8 PM...THEN PROGRESS EAST ACROSS
THE REGION. IT SHOULD REACH THE DC AND BALTIMORE METRO AREAS CLOSE TO
9 PM...AND THE BAY AROUND 10 PM. ALL OF THESE TIMES ARE APPROXIMATE.

IF YOU HAVE LOOSE OUTDOOR OBJECTS IN YOUR YARD...YOU WILL WANT TO
SECURE THEM OR BRING THEM INDOORS. OTHERWISE...THEY MAY BLOW AWAY OR
BECCOME DANGEROUS AIRBORNE PROJECTILES.

STRONG/HTS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 13, 9:04 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Clarke	26 min
Mar 13, 9:04 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Fauquier, Loudoun	26 min
Mar 13, 9:35 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	City of Falls Church	40 min
Mar 13, 9:35 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	City of Fairfax	40 min
Mar 13, 9:35 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Howard, City of Baltimore	40 min
Mar 13, 10:15 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Prince George's	30 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 2001 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Maryland, 2001 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2001

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.