Alert archive / Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2004
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 121, NWS Baltimore/Washington
NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 26, 2004, 4:37 PM EDT for Highland County, Virginia. It was in force for 38 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 26, 2004, 4:37 PM EDT (20:37 UTC)
- Expired
- May 26, 2004, 5:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 38 min
- Issued by
- NWS Baltimore/Washington
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Highland County, VA
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 161 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:39 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 26, 2:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 129 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -255 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1222 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 156 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 181 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
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 26, 2:40 PM EDT, 1 hour 57 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 26, 2:40 PM EDT, 1 hour 57 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 240 PM EDT WED MAY 26 2004 .MESOSCALE: 18Z SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS A STATIONARY BOUNDARY ACROSS THE MID CHESAPEAKE BAY WEST AND NORTH THROUGH EAST-CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. A WEAK OUTFLOW WAS LOCATED ACROSS SOUTHERN VIRGINIA...WITH A TROUGH IN THE LEE OF THE APPALACHIANS. A DIFFUSE COLD FRONT WAS LOCATED ACROSS CENTRAL OHIO. PRESSURE FALLS OF 2-3.5MB WERE NOTED NEAR THE OHIO RIVER. ACARS WIND SPEED OBSERVATIONS CONFIRM A VERY STRONG MIDLEVEL JET OF 70-80 KTS CENTERED JUST SOUTH OF CHICAGO. WATER VAPOR LOOP SHOWS THIS JET (MARKED WITH A DISTINCT DRY SLOT)...HAS BEEN TRANSLATING EAST ACROSS THE MIDWEST AT 50 TO 60 MPH. WE EXPECT A SQUALL LINE WILL DEVELOP AT THE NOSE OF THIS JET...WITH THE LINE CONTINUING TO BUILD NORTHWARD AS THE MIDLEVEL JET CROSSES THE OHIO SURFACE BOUNDARY. TIMING THE NOSE OF THIS JET...THE LINE WOULD NEAR THE ALLEGANY FRONT AND HIGHLANDS AROUND 6:00 PM...AND QUICKLY TRANSLATE EAST ACROSS OUR AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY...NEARING THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AROUND 8:00 PM. THIS LINE MAY PRESENT A DAMAGING WIND THREAT...ALONG WITH LARGE HAIL. OTHER SCATTERED STORMS WILL DEVELOP IN THE OHIO VALLEY AND TRANSLATE QUICKLY EASTWARD AHEAD OF THIS LINE. THESE STORMS WILL ALSO PRESENT A LARGE HAIL AND LOCAL DAMAGING WIND THREAT. 18Z IAD SOUNDING SHOWS A CURRENT MLCAPE OF 810 J/KG WHILE SBCAPE IS 2000 J/KG (BOTH UNCAPPED). MID AND UPPER LEVEL WIND FIELDS ARE RAPIDLY INCREASING...WHICH IS PROVIDING FOR OBSERVED 0-6KM SHEAR OF 48KT. THE HODOGRAPH IS RATHER LONG WHICH SUPPORTS A DAMAGING WIND THREAT. AS THE PRESSURE FALLS ARRIVE...LOW LEVEL WINDS MAY BACK...PRESENTING INCREASED LOW LEVEL SHEAR. ROGOWSKI .SHORT TERM... GOOD DYNAMICS AND STRONG JET ASSOCIATED WITH THE NEXT SYSTEM. EXPECTING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP OUT AHEAD OF MAIN COMPLEX CURRENTLY IN THE OHIO VALLEY. THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AS THE STORMS MOVE THROUGH THE REGION THIS EVENING (PLEASE SEE ABOVE) AND HAVE RAISED POPS TO LIKELY. ON THURSDAY WE ARE PROGGED TO HAVE THE FRONT DRAPED ACROSS THE REGION WITH A CONTINUED CHC OF TSTMS AND SLIGHLY COOLER TEMPS. ND .LONG TERM... 12Z RUNS PUSHING FRONT FASTER THROUGH REGION EARLY FRI USHERING IN DRIER PLEASANT CONDITIONS FOR MOST OF THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND. LOWERED POPS TEMPS AND DEWPTS FRI THRU SUN BASED ON INITIAL AND FORECAST AIR MASS CHARACTERISTICS. ANOTHER VIGOROUS TROF MOVING THRU CTRL US OVER THE WEEKEND WILL BEGIN TO IMPINGE ON MIDATL LATE MON INTO TUE WITH INCREASING CLOUDS AND WARM ADVECTION PCPN SPREADING SW TO NE. WENT ALONG WITH SURROUNDING OFFICES AND RAISED POPS TUE AS TRIPLE PT CROSSES REGION. HELD ON TO 30 POPS DAY 7 AS SYSTEM STRETCHES OUT WEST TO EAST. PS && .LWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. MARINE...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, May 26, 12:54 PM EDT, 3 hours 43 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 26, 12:48 PM EDT, 3 hours 49 minutes before
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PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
229 PM EDT WED MAY 26 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0556 PM TORNADO 7 W THURMONT 39.62N 77.41W
05/25/2004 F0 FREDERICK MD NWS STORM SURVEY
NWS DAMAGE SURVEY DISCOVERED A TORNADO TRACK JUST INSIDE
THE FREDERICK COUNTY LINE IN FAR NORTHWEST FREDERICK
COUNTY WEST OF THURMONT AND NORTH OF MYERSVILLE.
SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO TREES AND POWERLINES CONSISTENT
WITH AN F0 TORNADO. THE WIDTH OF THE TORNADO WAS 50 YARDS
AND WAS ON THE GROUND FOR APPROXIMATELY 1 MILE.
&&
MANNINGLocal storm report, May 26, 3:43 PM EDT, 54 minutes before
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</html>The office that day
Everything else NWS Baltimore/Washington issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 25, 8:14 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LWX | Fairfax, City of Alexandria | 46 min |
| May 25, 8:52 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | LWX | 3 hr | |
| May 25, 8:52 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | LWX | 3 hr | |
| May 26, 5:29 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Augusta, City of Staunton, City of Waynesboro | 61 min |
| May 26, 6:07 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Albemarle, Nelson, City of Charlottesville | 53 min |
| May 25, 8:28 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LWX | Prince George's | 62 min |
| May 25, 9:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Charles | 51 min |
| May 25, 9:16 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Calvert | 59 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 2004Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2004
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.