Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 201, NWS Baltimore/Washington

August 16, 2003Loudoun County, Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 16, 2003, 9:45 PM EDT for Loudoun County, Virginia. It was in force for 45 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: Aug 16, 2003, 9:45 PM EDT (01:45 UTC)
Expired: Aug 16, 2003, 10:30 PM EDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Loudoun County, VA

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 18 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:49 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, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 26 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: 1216 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1148 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 18 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 16, 9:00 PM EDT, 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 9:00 PM EDT, 45 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 16, 10:59 AM EDT, 10 hours 46 minutes before

DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016-VAZ021-025>031-036>042-050>057-
WVZ048>055-170800-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
1059 AM EDT SAT AUG 16 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

A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA FROM THE NORTH THIS AFTERNOON.
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

ALTHOUGH THE REGION IS NOT OUTLOOKED AS BEING AT RISK FOR SEVERE
WEATHER...SOME OF THE STORMS MAY BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY
RAINFALL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT AND SUNDAY.

ABW

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 16, 6:19 PM EDT, 3 hours 26 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
619 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0351 PM    WASHINGTON                DC   WIND DAMAGE
08/16/03   DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA           TREES DOWN IN NORTHWEST.
                                          FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT.

Local storm report, Aug 16, 7:32 PM EDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
732 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0511 PM    SUNDERLAND                MD   WIND DAMAGE
08/16/03   CALVERT                        TREES DOWN. EOC REPORT.

0545 PM    WICOMICO                  MD   WIND DAMAGE
08/16/03   CHARLES                        TREES DOWN IN WICOMICO.
                                          LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORT.

Local storm report, Aug 16, 7:54 PM EDT, 1 hour 51 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
754 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0315 PM    KINGSVILLE                MD   WIND DAMAGE
08/16/03   BALTIMORE                      TREES DOWNED. EOC
                                          REPORT.

0450 PM    BRANDYWINE                MD   WIND DAMAGE
08/16/03   PRINCE GEORGES                 WIRES DOWN IN THE
                                          SOUTHERN PART OF THE
                                          COUNTY. EOC REPORT.

Special weather statement, Aug 16, 8:21 PM EDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before

WVZ053-170100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
821 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM APPROACHING JEFFERSON COUNTY...

AT 821 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES
NORTHWEST OF KEARNEYSVILLE...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THIS STORM
WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH. THE
COMMUNITIES OF CHARLES TOWN AND RANSON WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS STORM
THROUGH 900 PM EDT. RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT IN
CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED.

MANNING

Local storm report, Aug 16, 8:42 PM EDT, 1 hour 3 minutes before

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Local storm report, Aug 16, 8:47 PM EDT, 58 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
Aug 16, 9:02 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Clarke	43 min
Aug 17, 1:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Orange	64 min
Aug 17, 3:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Albemarle, City of Charlottesville	54 min
Aug 17, 3:19 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Augusta	3 hr
Aug 17, 4:04 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Nelson	41 min
Aug 16, 10:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Carroll	65 min
Aug 16, 10:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Baltimore	64 min
Aug 16, 8:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Berkeley	64 min
Aug 16, 8:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Jefferson	49 min
Aug 16, 11:51 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Berkeley	114 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.