Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Baltimore/Washington

June 14, 2003Fairfax County, Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this tornado warning at Jun 14, 2003, 4:02 PM EDT for Fairfax County, Virginia. It was in force for 28 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
Jun 14, 2003, 4:02 PM EDT (20:02 UTC)
Expired
Jun 14, 2003, 4:30 PM EDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Fairfax County, VA

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 36 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:06 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 14, 1:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 181 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2003-06-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1538 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2003-06-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 68 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1538 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
663 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
68 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
80 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WFUS51 KLWX 142002
TORLWX
VAC059-142030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
403 PM EDT SAT JUN 14 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  SOUTHERN FAIRFAX COUNTY IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA

* UNTIL 430 PM EDT.

* AT 403 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH
  STRONG ROTATION 3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LORTON...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT
  35 MPH. THIS DANGEROUS STORM COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...FORT
  BELVOIR...LORTON...MOUNT VERNON AND NEWINGTON.

IF YOU ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM...TAKE COVER NOW IF NO
UNDERGROUND SHELTER IS AVAILABLE MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR. MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES SHOULD BE ABANDONED FOR MORE
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. AVOID WINDOWS

DO NOT TAKE SHELTER UNDER HIGHWAY OVERPASSES

LAT...LON 3879 7721 3873 7734 3863 7719 3872 7708

$$
MANNING

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 13, 8:49 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningLWX56 min
Jun 13, 8:53 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningLWX67 min
Jun 14, 3:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXPrince William, City of Manassas, City of Manassas Park40 min
Jun 14, 3:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXFairfax, City of Fairfax51 min
Jun 14, 3:57 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningLWX63 min
Jun 14, 3:59 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXFauquier2 hr
Jun 14, 4:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXCulpeper3 hr
Jun 14, 4:56 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningLWX64 min
Jun 14, 5:03 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningLWX57 min
Jun 14, 5:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXShenandoah38 min
Jun 14, 5:55 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningLWX65 min
Jun 14, 6:01 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXStafford3 hr
Jun 14, 6:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXRockingham, City of Harrisonburg56 min
Jun 14, 6:13 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningLWX92 min
Jun 14, 6:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXWarren36 min
Jun 14, 6:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXPage45 min
Jun 14, 6:47 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXPage, Rockingham3 hr
Jun 14, 7:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXMadison45 min
Jun 14, 7:18 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXMadison3 hr
Jun 14, 7:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXOrange47 min
Jun 14, 7:48 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningLWX87 min
Jun 14, 7:59 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXCulpeper91 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.