Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Baltimore/Washington
NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 27, 2001, 2:25 PM EDT for Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Virginia; Montgomery County, Maryland. It was in force for 50 min. 5 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
- May 27, 2001, 2:25 PM EDT (18:25 UTC)
- Expired
- May 27, 2001, 3:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS Baltimore/Washington
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Montgomery County, MD, Fairfax County, VA, Loudoun County, VA
The radar
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 11 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:37 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 27, 2:34 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Sterling, VA | Large trees were downed between Algonkian Parkway and Countryside Boulevard. |
| May 27, 2:57 PM EDT | Hail 0.75 | Montgomery Vlg, MD | Dime sized hail was reported. |
| May 27, 3:00 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Great Falls, VA | Trees were snapped. |
| May 27, 3:10 PM EDT | Tornado F1 | Olney, MD | Numerous trees were downed and buildings were damaged. |
| May 27, 3:12 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Olney, MD | A few trees were 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 27, 1:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 8 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
- 49 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -99 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 728 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 58 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 74 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- -0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
753 WUUS51 KLWX 271826 SVRLWX MDC031-VAC059-107-271915- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON 225 PM EDT SUN MAY 27 2001 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... MONTGOMERY COUNTY IN CENTRAL MARYLAND FAIRFAX COUNTY IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA LOUDOUN COUNTY IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA * UNTIL 315 PM EDT * AT 224 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER ASHBURN...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF EASTERN LOUDOUN COUNTY...NORTHERN FAIRFAX COUNTY AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE... 3 MILES NORTH OF COUNTRYSIDE AT 230 PM OVER NORTH POTOMAC AT 244 PM 3 MILES SOUTH OF GAITHERSBURG AT 246 PM OVER ROCKVILLE AT 250 PM OVER ASPEN HILL...3 MILES SOUTH OF OLNEY AT 258 PM REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAN PRODUCE LARGE DAMAGING HAIL... DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. IF SEVERE WEATHER APPROACHES...GO INSIDE A STURDY SHELTER AND STAY AWAY FROM DOORS AND WINDOWS. TUNE INTO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION. $$ JMM/MKM
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 May 27, 10:00 AM EDT, 4 hours 25 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 27, 10:00 AM EDT, 4 hours 25 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON 1000 AM EDT SUN MAY 27 2001 A LINE OF SHOWERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE STRONG SHORTWAVE IS CURRENTLY SWING THROUGH WV. AS IT MOVES IN TO VA AND MD IT WILL ENCOUNTER INCREASING UNSTABLE CONDITIONS. (SEE SWODY1) HAVE ISSUED SWO FOR THIS AFTERNOON. WILL UPDATED FIRST PD FOR STRONGER WORDING FOR TSTMS. WILL ALSO ADD SOME POPS IN TONIGHT FOR THE NE ZONES. .LWX... DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. ND
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 27, 9:55 AM EDT, 4 hours 30 minutes before
DCZ001-MDZ003>007-009>011-013-014-VAZ042-053-054-WVZ051>053-272300- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON 955 AM EDT SUN MAY 27 2001 ...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA...MARYLAND EAST OF WASHINGTON COUNTY TO THE CHESAPEAKE BAY...THE EXTREME NORTHEAST SECTION OF VIRGINIA...AND MORGAN ...BERKELEY...AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES IN THE EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA PANHANDLE. THE LARGE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WHICH HAS BEEN STATIONARY OVER SOUTHERN MICHIGAN FOR THE PAST FEW DAYS WILL SLOWLY DRIFT TOWARD OUR REGION LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT. AS THE LOW MOVES CLOSER A STRONG DISTURBANCE WILL ROTATE AROUND THE LOW AND WILL PROVIDE THE FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS REGION. THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP TODAY IN THE MOUNTAINS...AND SPREAD EASTWARD THIS AFTERNOON. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS...ESPECIALLY IN THE WASHINGTON-BALTIMORE METROPOLITAN AREA. STRONG WIND GUSTS...IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND HAIL GREATER THAN THREE-QUARTERS OF AN INCH IN DIAMETER WILL BE THE MAJOR THREATS FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS. THESE STORMS WILL ALSO PRODUCE AREAS OF HEAVY RAIN...RESULTING IN RAPID RISES ON CREEKS AND SMALLER RIVERS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/ER/LWX
The office that day
Everything else NWS Baltimore/Washington issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 8:13 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | LWX | Frederick, City of Winchester | 2 hr |
| May 26, 8:26 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | LWX | Shenandoah | 2 hr |
| May 26, 8:58 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Clarke | 32 min |
| May 26, 10:19 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | LWX | Frederick | 3 hr |
| May 27, 1:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Clarke, Frederick | 40 min |
| May 27, 1:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Shenandoah, Warren | 40 min |
| May 27, 1:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | City of Winchester | 40 min |
| May 27, 1:31 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LWX | Clarke, Warren | 29 min |
| May 27, 1:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Clarke, Fauquier, Loudoun | 40 min |
| May 27, 2:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Prince William, City of Manassas, City of Manassas Park | 40 min |
| May 27, 2:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Fauquier | 40 min |
| May 27, 3:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Howard | 43 min |
| May 27, 3:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Prince George's | 37 min |
| May 27, 3:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Montgomery | 28 min |
| May 27, 3:26 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Anne Arundel, Baltimore, City of Baltimore | 49 min |
| May 27, 6:53 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Montgomery | 52 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 2001Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Maryland, 2001Every 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.