Alert archive / Maryland / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 162, NWS Baltimore/Washington

August 2, 2002Allegany County, Maryland

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 2, 2002, 5:30 PM EDT for Allegany County, Maryland. It was in force for 60 min. 1 report 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
Aug 2, 2002, 5:30 PM EDT (21:30 UTC)
Expired
Aug 2, 2002, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area
Whole counties

County Allegany County, MD

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 127 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:32 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 2, 5:45 PM EDTHail 1.5Flintstone, MDPing pong sized hail covered Interstate 68.

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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 148 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2002-08-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1193 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2002-08-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 5 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1193 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-89 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1402 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 Aug 2, 2:05 PM EDT, 3 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 2, 2:05 PM EDT, 3 hours 25 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
205 PM EDT FRI AUG 2 2002

SHORT TERM...TNGT THRU SAT NIGHT...

HUGE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE EXTENDING FROM COAST TO COAST WILL ACTUALLY
STRENGTHEN AND BUILD EWD THROUGH FRI NIGHT. MEANWHILE...THE
WESTERLIES REMAIN AT THEIR SUMMER RETREAT ACROSS SRN CANADA AND THE
FAR NRN U.S.

MODELS IN DECENT AGREEMENT ON EVOLUTION OF THINGS OVR THE NEXT 3
PDS. CDFNT EXTENDING FM THE GTLKS THROUGH THE OH VLY WILL PRESS SEWD
JUST A BIT MORE TNGT. HOWEVER...WITH DYNAMICS/SUPPORT FOR THE FRONT
LIFTING OUT THRU ERN CANADA AND UPR LVL RIDGE STRENGTHENING AND
BUILDING EWD OVR THE AREA...DOUBT FRONT WILL EVER MAKE IT PASS THE
MASON/DIXON LINE. THIS IS SHOWN IN THE ETA LI FIELD WHICH SHOWS THE
STABLE AIR REMAINING N OF THE REGION THE NEXT 3 PDS. IN
ADDTN...PWATS REMAIN OVR 1.5 INCHES THRU SAT NIGHT INDICATING NONE
OF THE DRIER AIR IS ABLE TO PRESS SWD INTO THE AREA.

CAPES 2500-3500 J/KG AND LIS -6C TO -8C OVR THE AREA ATTM WITH
DESTABILIZATION INCREASING. IN ADDTN...500MB TEMPS A COUPLE DEG
COOLER TDA THAN YDA. NO SYNOPTIC SCALE BOUNDARY OR SHORTWAVE TO
FOCUS CONVECTION REMAINDER OF THE AFTRN. HOWEVER...AS WE SAW
YDA...SCT CONVECTION COULD FIRE ON MESOSCALE BOUNDARIES SUCH AS A
BAY BREEZE. IN ADDTN...SCT CONVECTION COULD FIRE OVR THE MTNS DUE TO
OROGRAPHIC LIFT. CONDITIONS APPEAR FAVORABLE FOR SCT CONVECTION
REMAINDER OF AFTRN INTO EARLY EVE.

ETA SHOWS A WIND SHIFT LINE DROPPING S THRU THE AREA TNGT. THIS IS
NOT THE FRONT BUT IS LIKELY A WIND SHIFT DUE TO A CONVECTIVE
BOUNDARY MOVING THRU THE REGION. CONVECTION MAY FIRE OVR PA THIS AFT
AND EVE THEN DROP SEWD THRU THE AREA. MODEL POPS NOT TOO THRILLED
ABOUT PROSPECTS OF PCPN. HOWEVER...AIR MASS IS UNSTABLE AND
850-500MB LAPSE RATES STEEPEN. GIVEN THIS AND PREFRONTAL BOUNDARY
MOVING THROUGH...WILL HAVE 30 POPS FOR TSRA REMAINDER OF AFTRN AND
OVRNGT.

AIR MASS CONTINUES MOIST AND UNSTABLE SAT AND SAT NGT AS WEAKENING
FRONT REMAINS ALG THE MASON/DIXON LINE. ETA BUFKIT CAPES AROUND 1500
J/KG SAT AFTRN AND LIS ARE NEGATIVE. WILL KEEP LOW CHC POPS IN FCST
SAT INTO SAT NGT. THINK CONVECTION WILL BE MAINLY DURING THE AFT AND
EARLY EVE SAT BUT WILL NOT PLAY WITH TIMING ATTM.

850MB TEMPS DO NOT CHG MUCH THRU SAT NGT. HOWEVER...CLOUDINESS WILL
CUT BACK ON HEATING JUST A FEW DEG ON SAT FROM TDAS READINGS.
OVRNGT HEAT INDICES SHOULD DROP BELOW 80F TNGT AND THEY WILL BE NEAR
OR ON THE THRESHOLD (100F) OF ADVISORY CRITERIA ON SAT. FOR
NOW...WILL LET THE HEAT ADVISORY EXPIRE AT 8 PM AND MID SHIFT CAN
RE-EVALUATE SITUATION FOR SAT AND RE-ISSUE IF NEEDED.

NGM/AVN MOS CLOSE. ETA MOS A BIT WARMER ON MAX TEMPS. WENT WITH A
BLEND OF GUIDANCE.

WALSTON

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LONG-TERM DISCUSSION

SUNDAY
UPPER RIDGE WILL DOMINATE THE CNTRL US TO THE MID ATLANTIC
REGION THRU MONDAY.  TEMPS WILL CONTINUE TO BE HOT WITH LITTLE IF
ANY CHANCE OF PRECIP.

(MON-FRI) MEDIUM RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO ADVERTISE INCREASED
AMPLITUDE TO THE WRN TROF/CNTRL RIDGE BEGINNING MONDAY.  THIS
RESULTS IN DOWNSTREAM TROF AMPLIFICATION OVER ERN NOAM TUESDAY.
ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA MONDAY EVENING AND MOVE
SOUTH OF THE AREA BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON. HAVE 30 POPS FOR NOW FOR
MONDAY AFTERNOON THRU TUESDAY. MORE PLEASANT WX WED-FRI WITH COOLER
AND DRIER AIR.

ROSA

.LWX...
DC...HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 800 PM EDT FRIDAY FOR ZONE DCZ001.
MD...HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 800 PM EDT FRIDAY FOR ZONES
     MDZ002>007...MDZ009>011...MDZ013>014...MDZ016>018.
VA...HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 800 PM EDT FRIDAY FOR ZONES
     VAZ025>031...VAZ036>042...VAZ050>057.
WV...HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 700 PM EDT FRIDAY FOR ZONES
     WVZ048>053...WVZ055.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 1, 8:07 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningLWX53 min
Aug 1, 8:28 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXFairfax, City of Alexandria3 hr
Aug 1, 10:44 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningLWX91 min
Aug 2, 7:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXBaltimore, Harford56 min
Aug 2, 5:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXPendleton65 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Maryland, 2002Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.