Alert archive / Maryland / Tornado Warnings in 2003
Tornado Warning 32, NWS Wakefield, VA
NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at Sep 18, 2003, 6:29 PM EDT for Worcester County, Maryland. It was in force for 16 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 18, 2003, 6:29 PM EDT (22:29 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 18, 2003, 6:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 16 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wakefield, VA
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Worcester County, MD
Did it verify
Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this tornado warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.
Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 18, 8:25 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 12 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 38 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
- 173 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 484 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 44 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 229 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 266 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 1.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WFUS51 KAKQ 182229
TORAKQ
MDC047-182245-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
629 PM EDT THU SEP 18 2003
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WAKEFIELD HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
WORCESTER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MARYLAND
* UNTIL 645 PM EDT
* AT 629 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTH OF
IRONSHIRE...OR ABOUT 12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF OCEAN CITY...MOVING
NORTHWEST AT 75 MPH.
* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
RURAL NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY AT 640 PM EDT.
TAKE COVER IN A BASEMENT OR AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.
VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED FOR STURDIER SHELTER.
LAT...LON 3813 7521 3822 7522 3814 7528 3830 7551
3830 7539 3834 7534 3843 7534 3835 7522
3827 7508
$$What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Wakefield, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Sep 18, 3:25 PM EDT, 3 hours 4 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 18, 3:25 PM EDT, 3 hours 4 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 325 PM EDT THU SEP 18 2003 ...ZONES TO BE DELAYED UNTIL AFTR HRCN CONFERENCE CALL... .OVERVIEW...HRCN ISABEL HAS MADE LANDFALL ACROSS SE NC THIS AFTRN AND WILL CONT TO WEAKEN AS IT MOVES NW ACROSS ERN NC INTO THE PIEDMONT OF VA TONIGHT B4 LIFTG N OF RGN FRI. .SHORT TERM...NHC & GFS TRACK IN GOOD AGREEMENT. WILL CONT WDSPRD PCPN TONITE AS STORM MOVES N. THUNDER IN AREAS E OF I95 WHERE TORNADO WATCH CONTS THRU 00Z. HAVE NOTICED DRIER AIR WRAPPING ARND SYSTM FROM E PAST FEW HRS AND THIS MAY TEND TO LWR PCPN AMTS. GSTY WNDS AND FLOODING THREAT TO CONT TO BE ISSUE TONITE AS WELL. SYSTM FCSTD TO ACCELERATE AS IT MOVES N FRI. THUS XPCT PCPN TO RPDLY END OVR AKQ FA FRI AM. TSCTNS SHOW DRYING DRNG AFTRN...SO IT SHUD BECOME PT SUNNY ACROSS RGN. WNDY TO START WITH DMNSHG WNDS AS DAY PROGRESSES. NO SGNFT WX XPCTD UNTIL THE NXT CDFRNT APPRCHS FROM W TUE. WILL KEEP CHC POPS IN AS CRNTLY ADVERTISED. TMPS NR SEASONABLE NRMLS. .MARINE...CRNT WTCHS/WRNGS CONT AS IS. .PRELIMINARY TEMPS/POPS... SBY 69 79 65 81 / 99 60 10 10 OXB 68 78 66 81 / 99 40 10 10 WAL 68 79 66 81 / 99 40 10 10 FVX 64 81 61 82 / 99 60 10 10 RIC 65 80 62 82 / 99 60 10 10 PTB 66 82 62 82 / 99 40 10 10 AKQ 67 82 63 83 / 99 40 10 10 PHF 69 81 67 83 / 99 40 10 10 ORF 70 82 68 81 / 99 40 10 10 ECG 71 82 68 82 / 99 40 10 10 .AKQ... .MD...TRPLCL STORM WRNG...FLOOD WATCH FOR MDZ021>025. TORNADO WATCH THRU 00Z. .VA...HRCNE WRNG ERN VA VAZ074?078-084>086-089>091-093>100. INLAND HRCN WND WRNG VAZ081-082-087-088-092. INLAND TRPLCL STORM WND WRNG VAZ048-049-060>073-079-080-083. FLOOD WATCH THRU FRI AM VAZ048-049 -060>100. TORNADO WATCH THRU 00Z VAZ072>078-081>086087>100. .NC...HRCN WRNG NCZ015>017-030>032-102.INLAND HRCN WND WRNG NCZ012>014. FLOOD WATCH INTO FRI AM NCZ012>017-030>032-102. TORNADO WATCH THRU 00Z NCZ012>017-030>032-102. 44
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 18, 5:35 AM EDT, 12 hours 54 minutes before
MDZ021>025-NCZ012>017-030>032-102-VAZ048-049-060>100-181600- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 535 AM EDT THU SEP 18 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN VIRGINIA... NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND THE LOWER MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE. .DAY ONE...TODAY HURRICANE ISABEL WILL AFFECT THE ENTIRE AREA THROUGH TONIGHT. COASTAL AREAS WILL SEE A SIGNIFICANT STORM SURGE. ALL AREAS ARE UNDER THE THREAT OF ISOLATED TORNADOES. HEAVY RAIN WILL CAUSE POSSIBLE INLAND FLOODING. AN EXTREMELY LARGE WIND FIELD WILL CAUSE MANY TREES TO BE DOWNED. SEE HLSAKQ (WTUS81)...AND FFAAKQ (WGUS61) FOR MORE INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. TG THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WATCHES...WARNINGS...ADVISORIES...AND STATEMENTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN WAKEFIELD, VA CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT THE FOLLOWING (LOWER CASE): WEATHER.NOAA.GOV/AKQ.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Sep 18, 4:20 PM EDT, 2 hours 9 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
0420 PM EDT THU SEP 18 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0410 PM CHASE CITY VA 35 MPH WIND GUST
09/18/03 MECKLENBURG TREES DOWN ALL OVER THE
COUNTY.
FOSTERSpecial weather statement, Sep 18, 4:24 PM EDT, 2 hours 5 minutes before
NCZ014-016-017-102-VAZ091-093>098-182230- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 424 PM EDT THU SEP 18 2003 ...HURRICANE FORCE WINDS MOVING THROUGH THE AREA... AT 415 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY STRONG BANDS OF WIND MOVING INTO THE AREA. THESE MAY EVEN CAUSE VERY BRIEF TORNADOES. REPORTS OF WINDS GUSTING TO OVER 80 MPH HAVE BEEN RECEIVED. THESE WIND GUSTS AND SOME EVEN OVER 90 MPH ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE NEXT TWO HOURS. STAY INDOORS AS THESE HIGH WINDS MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. CONDITIONS WILL BE VERY DANGEROUS FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. 92 && LAT...LON 3711 7609 3640 7579 3643 7683 3728 7671
Special weather statement, Sep 18, 4:44 PM EDT, 1 hour 45 minutes before
VAZ070-079>082-087>090-092-182245- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 444 PM EDT THU SEP 18 2003 ...HURRICANE FORCE WINDS MOVING THROUGH THE AREA... AT 415 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY STRONG BANDS OF WIND MOVING INTO THE AREA. THESE MAY EVEN CAUSE VERY BRIEF TORNADOES. WIND GUSTS OVER 80 MPH ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE NEXT TWO HOURS. STAY INDOORS AS THESE HIGH WINDS MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. CONDITIONS WILL BE VERY DANGEROUS FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. 92 && LAT...LON 3657 7806 3658 7696 3741 7666 3733 7748
Local storm report, Sep 18, 4:53 PM EDT, 1 hour 36 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
0453 PM EDT THU SEP 18 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0448 PM COLONIAL HEIGHTS VA FLOOD
09/18/03 CITY OF COLONIAL HEIGHTS 6 INCHES TO 1 FOOT OF
WATER ON PINEHURST DR, N OF
SWIFT CREEK. REPORTED BY
LAW ENFORCEMENT.
FOSTERLocal storm report, Sep 18, 6:04 PM EDT, 25 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
0604 PM EDT THU SEP 18 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0556 PM 6 SE FRANKLIN VA 60 MPH WIND GUST
09/18/03 CITY OF SUFFOLK MANY TREES DOWN. PRESSURE
MEASURED AT 29.00 REPORTED
BY PUBLIC WITH WEATHER
INSTRUMENTS.
FOSTERLocal storm report, Sep 18, 6:21 PM EDT, 8 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
0621 PM EDT THU SEP 18 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0605 PM DOWNTOWN NORFOLK VA TORNADO
09/18/03 CITY OF NORFOLK SEEN ON GROUND AT BAYVIEW
AND GRAMBY STREET
XXXThe office that day
Everything else NWS Wakefield, VA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 18, 6:30 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Worcester | 15 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Maryland, 2003Every tornado warning in 2003Tornadoes in 2003
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.