Alert archive / Maryland / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Baltimore/Washington

May 12, 2002Carroll County, Frederick County, Maryland

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this tornado warning at May 12, 2002, 6:05 PM EDT for Carroll County, Frederick County, Maryland. It was in force for 40 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: May 12, 2002, 6:05 PM EDT (22:05 UTC)
Expired: May 12, 2002, 6:45 PM EDT
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area: Whole counties

Counties Carroll County, MD, Frederick County, MD

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:07 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 12, 6:40 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Lewistown, MD	A small tree was downed onto a road.

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 12, 3:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 65 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: 1104 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 150 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 143 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS51 KLWX 122205
TORLWX
MDC013-021-122245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
605 PM EDT SUN MAY 12 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CARROLL COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL MARYLAND
  FREDERICK COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL MARYLAND

* UNTIL 645 PM EDT

* AT 602 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
  TORNADO 8 MILES NORTHWEST OF CLOVER HILL...MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST   
  AT 55 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  2 MILES NORTH OF CLOVER HILL AT 610 PM
  OVER DISCOVERY-SPRING GARDEN AT 612 PM
  OVER WALKERSVILLE AT 614 PM
  3 MILES NORTH OF SYKESVILLE AT 634 PM
  OVER ELDERSBURG AT 636 PM

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 12, 4:17 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Frederick, Washington	28 min
May 12, 4:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Howard, Montgomery	48 min
May 12, 4:44 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick	46 min
May 12, 5:12 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Harford, Prince George's, City of Baltimore	48 min
May 12, 6:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Washington	30 min
May 12, 6:23 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Montgomery	52 min
May 12, 6:39 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Baltimore, Harford	51 min
May 12, 7:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Montgomery	21 min
May 12, 7:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George's	47 min
May 12, 7:53 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Frederick, Montgomery	22 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.