Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 137, NWS Baltimore/Washington

September 23, 2003Fairfax County, City of Fairfax, Virginia; Montgomery County, Maryland

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this flash flood warning at Sep 23, 2003, 5:43 AM EDT for Fairfax County, City of Fairfax, Virginia; Montgomery County, Maryland. It was in force for 2 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 23, 2003, 5:43 AM EDT (09:43 UTC)
Expired
Sep 23, 2003, 7:45 AM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Montgomery County, MD, City of Fairfax, VA, Fairfax County, VA

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 20 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:42 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 12 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 2003-09-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 7 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 2003-09-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 281 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
7 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-42 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
918 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
281 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
400 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 flash flood warning went out at Sep 23, 3:50 AM EDT, 1 hour 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 23, 3:50 AM EDT, 1 hour 53 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 23, 5:12 AM EDT, 31 minutes before
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In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 23, 3:33 AM EDT, 2 hours 10 minutes before
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Local storm report, Sep 23, 4:00 AM EDT, 1 hour 43 minutes before
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</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
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      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
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      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
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Local storm report, Sep 23, 5:30 AM EDT, 13 minutes before
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<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
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      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
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      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 23, 1:13 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXFauquier3 hr
Sep 23, 1:37 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXLoudoun3 hr
Sep 23, 1:49 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXClarke, Warren3 hr
Sep 23, 4:25 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXClarke, Fauquier, Loudoun, Warren3 hr
Sep 23, 7:06 AM EDTSpecial Marine WarningLWX114 min
Sep 23, 2:25 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXCarroll3 hr
Sep 23, 2:43 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXMontgomery3 hr
Sep 23, 5:15 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXCarroll3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 2003Flash Flood Warnings in Maryland, 2003Every flash flood warning 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.