Alert archive / Maryland / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Wakefield, VA

May 13, 2002Worcester County, Maryland

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at May 13, 2002, 9:21 PM EDT for Worcester County, Maryland. It was in force for 19 min. 3 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 13, 2002, 9:21 PM EDT (01:21 UTC)
Expired: May 13, 2002, 9:40 PM EDT
In force: 19 min
Issued by: NWS Wakefield, VA
Area: Whole counties

County Worcester County, MD

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 13, 9:23 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Bishopville, MD	Roof blown off house.
May 13, 9:25 PM EDT	Tornado F0	Showell, MD	Numerous trees down or sheared off.
May 13, 9:35 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Ocean City, MD	Minor damage to several structures. Roof partially torn off one building.

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

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 33 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: 1123 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -39 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1245 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 188 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 228 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.0
Supercell composite: 9.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS51 KAKQ 140121
TORAKQ
MDC047-140140-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
921 PM EDT MON MAY 13 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WAKEFIELD HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WORCESTER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MARYLAND

* UNTIL 940 PM EDT

* AT 921 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING
  A TORNADO 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF IRONSHIRE...MOVING EAST AT 75 MPH.

* THE STORM PRODUCING THE TORNADO WILL REACH...
  OCEAN CITY MUNICIPAL AIRPORT AND WEST OCEAN CITY AROUND 925 PM

THIS TORNADO WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WHICH
WAS IN EFFECT FOR THE SAME AREA. GO TO A BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR
ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

$$

REILLY
&&
LAT...LON 3830 7532 3813 7525 3833 7429 3855 7438

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wakefield, VA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 13, 8:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AKQ	Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico	38 min
May 13, 8:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AKQ	Worcester	40 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Maryland, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes in 2002

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.