Alert archive / Maryland / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 280, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

August 26, 2003Garrett County, Maryland

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 26, 2003, 10:35 PM EDT for Garrett County, Maryland. It was in force for 40 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: Aug 26, 2003, 10:35 PM EDT (02:35 UTC)
Expired: Aug 26, 2003, 11:15 PM EDT
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Garrett County, MD

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 133 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:37 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Aug 26, 9:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 116 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: 366 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -214 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1453 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 191 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 213 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS51 KPBZ 270235
SVRPBZ
MDC023-270315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
1035 PM EDT TUE AUG 26 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  GARRETT COUNTY IN MARYLAND

* UNTIL 1115 PM EDT

* AT 1035 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 16 MILES NORTH OF MOUNTAIN LAKE PARK...MOVING
  EAST AT 40 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED BY THIS STORM INCLUDE...
  MOUNTAIN LAKE PARK...

<<CALL TO ACTION>>SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 58
MILES AN HOUR AND LARGE HAIL GREATER THAN THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH.

PLEASE REPORT HAIL...STRONG WINDS OR WIND DAMAGE TO THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE BY CALLING TOLL FREE...1-877-633-6772...WHEN YOU CAN
DO SO SAFELY.

LAT...LON 3970 7945 3927 7945 3950 7910 3970 7897

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 Pittsburgh, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 26, 4:59 PM EDT, 5 hours 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 26, 4:59 PM EDT, 5 hours 36 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
459 PM EDT TUE AUG 26 2003

EVENING FSCT ISSUANCE WITH LATEST SVR/FFA TIL 10PM EDT FOR ECNTRL OHIO
AS COMPLEX IN NRN INDIANA HEADS SEWD...HOPEFULLY LAST FOR TDY.
MDLS STILL CONFIDENT IN MVG FRONTAL BNDRY PRESENTLY N OF REGION...BY
WED EVE TO S OF M/D LINE...SO WED AFTN, COULD BE ANOTHER ROUND OF
STRONG STORMS.

PIT   70  82  62  80 /  50  50  20  20
HLG   70  83  62  81 /  50  50  20  20
MGW   71  84  64  82 /  50  50  40  20
ZZV   71  84  63  82 /  50  50  30  10
PHD   70  83  62  80 /  50  50  20  20
FKL   68  79  58  79 /  40  40  10  20
DUJ   67  78  57  78 /  40  40  10  20
LBE   70  83  61  80 /  50  50  20  20
BTP   68  79  58  79 /  40  40  10  20
IDI   69  80  59  80 /  40  40  10  20
ODM   68  82  63  79 /  50  50  40  20

.PBZ...
MD...NONE.
OH...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 1000 PM EDT TUESDAY FOR ZONES OHZ039>041...
OHZ048>050...OHZ057>059...OHZ068>069.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 1000 PM EDT TUESDAY FOR ZONES
OHZ039>041...OHZ048>050...OHZ057>059...OHZ068>069.

PA...NONE.
WV...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 26, 11:18 AM EDT, 11 hours 17 minutes before

MDZ001-OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-PAZ007>009-013>016-020>023-
029>032-WVZ001>004-012-021>023-041-261900-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
1118 AM EDT TUE AUG 26 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
EAST CENTRAL OHIO...NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AND
GARRETT COUNTY MARYLAND.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

.THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH TONIGHT.
THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AT ANY TIME. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY CONTAIN
LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND HEAVY RAIN.

A FLOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR THE NORTHERN HALF OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA TIL
1000 PM EDT TONIGHT,

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

.ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA ON FRIDAY WHICH MAY
RESULT IN STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ONCE AGAIN.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO
FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 26, 10:09 PM EDT, 26 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1009 PM EDT TUE AUG 26 2003

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

0945 PM    WHEELING                  WV   WIND DAMAGE
08/26/03   OHIO                           LARGE TREES DOWN.REPORTED
                                          BY TRAINED OBSERVER

0910 PM    BATESVILLE                OH   WIND DAMAGE
08/26/03   NOBLE                          TREES AND POWER LINES
                                          DOWNED IN EASTERN PART OF
                                          COUNTY. BATESVILLE AND
                                          SUMMERFIELD AREAS. REPORTED
                                          BY LAW ENFORCEMENT

Local storm report, Aug 26, 10:11 PM EDT, 24 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1011 PM EDT TUE AUG 26 2003

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

0957 PM    WASHINGTON                PA   WIND DAMAGE
08/26/03   WASHINGTON                     LARGE TREES DOWN. REPORTED
                                          BY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.

Local storm report, Aug 26, 10:18 PM EDT, 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1018 PM EDT TUE AUG 26 2003

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

0946 PM    HOOVERSON HEIGHTS         OH   WIND DAMAGE
08/26/03   BROOKE                         TREES AND POWER LINES
                                          DOWN. REPORTED BY TRAINED
                                          OBSERVER.

Local storm report, Aug 26, 10:22 PM EDT, 13 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1022 PM EDT TUE AUG 26 2003

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

0955 PM    NEW MARTINSVILLE          WV   WIND DAMAGE
08/26/03   WETZEL                         TREES DOWN. ALSO TREES
                                          DOWN IN PINE GROVE.
                                          REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT.

Local storm report, Aug 26, 10:32 PM EDT, 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1032 PM EDT TUE AUG 26 2003

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

0955 PM    COUNTYWIDE                PA   WIND DAMAGE
08/26/03   GREENE                         NUMEROUS TREES DOWN.
                                          REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT.

Local storm report, Aug 26, 10:35 PM EDT, 0 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1035 PM EDT TUE AUG 26 2003

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

1020 PM    COUNTYWIDE                WV   WIND DAMAGE
08/26/03   MONONGALIA                     NUMEROUS TREES DOWN.
                                          REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
                                          MANAGEMENT.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 27, 7:05 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	PBZ	Garrett	4 hr
Aug 27, 10:17 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Garrett	58 min
Aug 27, 3:59 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	PBZ	Garrett	3 hr
Aug 27, 4:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Garrett	55 min
Aug 27, 6:51 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	PBZ	Garrett	3 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Maryland, 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.