Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 144, NWS Baltimore/Washington

July 11, 2003Arlington County, City of Falls Church, Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 11, 2003, 12:23 AM EDT for Arlington County, City of Falls Church, Virginia. It was in force for 67 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jul 11, 2003, 12:23 AM EDT (04:23 UTC)
Expired: Jul 11, 2003, 1:30 AM EDT
In force: 67 min
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Arlington County, VA, City of Falls Church, VA

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 32 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:22 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jul 10, 6:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 4.4 hours before the alert went out and 24 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: 712 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -21 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 664 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 151 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 242 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.5
Supercell composite: 2.6

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 Jul 10, 10:40 PM EDT, 1 hour 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 10, 10:40 PM EDT, 1 hour 43 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 10, 2:22 PM EDT, 10 hours 1 minute before

DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042-
050>057-WVZ048>055-110800-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
222 PM EDT THU JUL 10 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MARYLAND WEST OF THE CHESAPEAKE
BAY AND EAST OF GARRETT COUNTY...THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA...NORTHERN
VIRGINIA...THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL SHENANDOAH VALLEY...AND THE
EASTERN PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OKLAHOMA HAS OUTLOOKED
PORTIONS OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA AND PENDLETON COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA AS
HAVING A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS
EVENING.

THE MAIN THREAT WITH STORMS THAT DEVELOP WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS IN
EXCESS OF 57 MPH.

A FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR ALL COUNTIES EXCEPT FOR NORTHERN
PIEDMONT AND SOUTHERN MARYLAND. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE
EXPECTED TODAY AND TONIGHT. HEAVY RAINFALL FROM THESE STORMS MAY
CAUSE FLOODING.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

ABW

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 10, 9:17 PM EDT, 3 hours 6 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jul 10, 9:50 PM EDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Jul 10, 10:31 PM EDT, 1 hour 52 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jul 10, 11:17 PM EDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Jul 11, 12:06 AM EDT, 17 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Jul 11, 12:10 AM EDT, 13 minutes before

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The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 10, 8:53 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	LWX		2 hr
Jul 10, 9:22 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Prince William, City of Manassas, City of Manassas Park	53 min
Jul 10, 9:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Fairfax, City of Fairfax, City of Falls Church	54 min
Jul 10, 9:40 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	LWX		2 hr
Jul 10, 10:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Fauquier	47 min
Jul 11, 1:00 AM EDT	Special Marine Warning	LWX		90 min
Jul 10, 8:02 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Charles	58 min
Jul 10, 9:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Saint Mary's	58 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 2003 Every severe thunderstorm 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.