Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 30, NWS Baltimore/Washington

May 8, 2003Culpeper County, Fauquier County, Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 8, 2003, 5:29 PM EDT for Culpeper County, Fauquier County, Virginia. It was in force for 46 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: May 8, 2003, 5:29 PM EDT (21:29 UTC)
Expired: May 8, 2003, 6:15 PM EDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Culpeper County, VA, Fauquier County, VA

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:29 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
May 8, 12:55 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 56 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: 203 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -52 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 820 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 88 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.2

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 May 8, 3:30 PM EDT, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 8, 3:30 PM EDT, 1 hour 59 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, May 8, 10:24 AM EDT, 7 hours 5 minutes before

DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042-
050>057-WVZ048>055-091000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
1024 AM EDT THU MAY 8 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 FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THE
AREA. THE PRIMARY RISK THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING IS DAMAGING
WINDS...BUT SOME LARGE HAIL IS POSSIBLE. THE MOST LIKELY TIME FOR
SEVERE WEATHER IS BETWEEN 1 PM AND 9 PM.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS INDICATED THAT THERE IS A SLIGHT
RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY ACROSS THE AREA.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON.

MANNING/ROGOWSKI

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 8, 1:39 PM EDT, 3 hours 50 minutes before

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Special weather statement, May 8, 2:20 PM EDT, 3 hours 9 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 8, 4:23 PM EDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 8, 4:58 PM EDT, 31 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
May 7, 8:40 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	LWX		65 min
May 8, 11:45 AM EDT	Special Marine Warning	LWX		30 min
May 8, 11:51 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Fairfax, City of Alexandria	24 min
May 8, 12:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Page, Shenandoah	51 min
May 8, 12:46 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	LWX		59 min
May 8, 1:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Fauquier	41 min
May 8, 1:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Prince William, City of Manassas, City of Manassas Park	46 min
May 8, 3:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Frederick	41 min
May 8, 4:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Frederick, City of Winchester	51 min
May 8, 4:38 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Clarke, Warren	52 min
May 8, 4:53 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Fauquier	37 min
May 8, 6:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Spotsylvania, Stafford, City of Fredericksburg	60 min
May 7, 8:02 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Calvert	28 min
May 7, 8:13 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Saint Mary's	47 min
May 8, 11:55 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Prince George's	50 min
May 8, 12:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Saint Mary's	54 min
May 8, 12:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Calvert	49 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.