Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 833

September 17, 20045 counties in Maryland; 24 counties in North Carolina; 70 counties in Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 17, 2004, 1:15 PM EDT for 5 counties in Maryland; 24 counties in North Carolina; 70 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Sep 17, 2004, 1:15 PM EDT (17:15 UTC)
Expired: Sep 17, 2004, 8:00 PM EDT
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 99 counties

Anne Arundel County, MD, Calvert County, MD, Charles County, MD, Prince George's County, MD, Saint Mary's County, MD, Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Camden County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Craven County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Gates County, NC, Greene County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC, Amelia County, VA, Arlington County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Alexandria, VA, City of Charlottesville, VA, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Fairfax, VA, City of Falls Church, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Fredericksburg, VA, City of Hampton, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Manassas, VA, City of Manassas Park, VA, City of Newport News, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Poquoson, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Richmond, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, City of Williamsburg, VA, Culpeper County, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Fairfax County, VA, Fauquier County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Gloucester County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Greene County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, James City County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King George County, VA, King William County, VA, Lancaster County, VA, Louisa County, VA, Madison County, VA, Mathews County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Northumberland County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Orange County, VA, Page County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Prince William County, VA, Rappahannock County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Shenandoah County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, Warren County, VA, Westmoreland County, VA, York County, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:16 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.

Warnings issued inside it

59 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 17, 2:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AKQ	Southampton, City of Franklin, City of Suffolk	30 min
Sep 17, 2:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AKQ	Isle of Wight	40 min
Sep 17, 2:59 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Albemarle, City of Charlottesville	61 min
Sep 17, 3:07 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Spotsylvania, City of Fredericksburg	53 min
Sep 17, 3:12 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Madison, Rappahannock	63 min
Sep 17, 3:19 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Orange	41 min
Sep 17, 3:27 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AKQ	Lunenburg, Nottoway	33 min
Sep 17, 3:31 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Hanover	14 min
Sep 17, 3:32 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Culpeper	28 min
Sep 17, 3:38 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Nottoway	22 min
Sep 17, 3:42 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Albemarle, City of Charlottesville	3 hr
Sep 17, 3:44 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Warren	46 min
Sep 17, 3:47 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Caroline	28 min
Sep 17, 3:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Greene	40 min
Sep 17, 3:55 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Fauquier	65 min
Sep 17, 3:56 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Amelia	19 min
Sep 17, 3:59 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Greene	46 min
Sep 17, 4:06 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Madison	54 min
Sep 17, 4:17 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Amelia, Chesterfield	28 min
Sep 17, 4:20 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Spotsylvania, Stafford, City of Fredericksburg	55 min
Sep 17, 4:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AKQ	Caroline	9 min
Sep 17, 4:36 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Page	39 min
Sep 17, 4:39 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Albemarle, City of Charlottesville	51 min
Sep 17, 4:44 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Prince William, City of Manassas, City of Manassas Park	61 min
Sep 17, 4:45 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Chesterfield, Goochland, Henrico, Powhatan	15 min
Sep 17, 4:58 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Fauquier, Loudoun	62 min
Sep 17, 5:00 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Hanover, Henrico	30 min
Sep 17, 5:04 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Cumberland, Prince Edward	41 min
Sep 17, 5:09 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Stafford	36 min
Sep 17, 5:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Greene	49 min
Sep 17, 5:14 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Orange	31 min
Sep 17, 5:15 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Greene	30 min
Sep 17, 5:23 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Madison	52 min
Sep 17, 5:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Page	64 min
Sep 17, 5:27 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Hanover, Henrico, New Kent	33 min
Sep 17, 5:32 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Culpeper	43 min
Sep 17, 5:38 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Fairfax, City of Fairfax	52 min
Sep 17, 5:44 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Prince William, City of Manassas, City of Manassas Park	16 min
Sep 17, 5:49 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Madison	3 hr
Sep 17, 5:54 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Caroline	36 min
Sep 17, 6:05 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Fauquier	55 min
Sep 17, 6:12 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	AKQ	Cumberland	93 min
Sep 17, 6:16 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AKQ	Amelia, Goochland, Powhatan	29 min
Sep 17, 6:19 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	King George	56 min
Sep 17, 6:20 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Greensville, City of Emporia	25 min
Sep 17, 6:28 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Camden	47 min
Sep 17, 6:36 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Charles	54 min
Sep 17, 6:39 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Gloucester, James City, King and Queen	36 min
Sep 17, 6:59 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Middlesex	16 min
Sep 17, 7:06 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	City of Norfolk	24 min
Sep 17, 7:09 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Culpeper	66 min
Sep 17, 7:11 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Fairfax, Prince William, City of Fairfax, City of Falls Church	64 min
Sep 17, 7:14 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Lancaster	16 min
Sep 17, 7:17 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	AKQ	Amelia, Caroline, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Essex, Goochland and 7 more	118 min
Sep 17, 7:19 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Chesterfield	26 min
Sep 17, 7:21 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	LWX	Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Orange, Rappahannock, Warren	3 hr
Sep 17, 7:27 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Charles	63 min
Sep 17, 7:51 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Prince George's	54 min
Sep 17, 7:54 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Stafford	51 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 146 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: 516 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 576 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 60 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 20 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 171717
SEL3  
SPC WW 171715
DCZ000-MDZ000-NCZ000-VAZ000-CWZ000-180000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 833
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
115 PM EDT FRI SEP 17 2004

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
       SOUTHERN MARYLAND WEST OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY
       EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
       NORTHERN AND CENTRAL VIRGINIA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 115 PM UNTIL 800
PM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF WASHINGTON DISTRICT OF
COLUM TO 40 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF NEW BERN NORTH CAROLINA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 832...

DISCUSSION...TORNADO POTENTIAL WILL CONTINUE TO OVERSPREAD MUCH OF
VA AND ERN NC THROUGH THE DAY AS STRONG LOW TO MID LEVEL WINDS
ASSOCIATED WITH REMNANTS OF IVAN SHIFT ENEWD.  ENHANCED SHEAR ACROSS
A VERY MOIST AND MODERATELY UNSTABLE AIR MASS SUGGEST SUPERCELLS AND
SMALL LINES WILL PRODUCE TORNADOES AND WIND DAMAGE AS THEY MOVE
QUICKLY NNEWD. THOUGH GREATEST THREAT SHOULD EXTEND ACROSS
CENTRAL/SRN VA... TORNADO THREAT IS EXPECTED TO EXTEND NWD INTO FAR
NRN VA/SRN MD BY THE LATE AFTERNOON ALONG AND SOUTH OF SURFACE FRONT
NOW IN PLACE FROM SERN PA INTO NERN WV.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 21035.


...EVANS

390,0762 345,0751 345,0773 390,0785

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 17, 12:33 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Charles, Saint Mary's	117 min
Sep 17, 3:33 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Harford, Howard and 1 more	117 min
Sep 17, 3:50 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Harford, Howard and 3 more	4 hr
Sep 17, 3:53 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Calvert, Charles, Prince George's, Saint Mary's	2 hr
Sep 17, 6:19 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Charles, Frederick and 6 more	116 min
Sep 17, 6:50 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil and 14 more	5 hr
Sep 16, 8:45 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Polk and 1 more	6 hr
Sep 16, 11:42 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Gaston, Mecklenburg	2 hr
Sep 17, 1:51 AM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston and 6 more	84 min
Sep 17, 9:26 AM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Alamance, Anson, Bladen, Caswell, Chatham, Cumberland and 24 more	2 hr
Sep 17, 10:10 AM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Alamance, Anson, Bladen, Brunswick, Caswell, Chatham and 37 more	7 hr
Sep 17, 11:03 AM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Alamance, Bertie, Caswell, Chatham, Cumberland, Durham and 26 more	87 min
Sep 17, 1:37 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Alamance, Bladen, Brunswick, Caswell, Chatham, Columbus and 29 more	113 min
Sep 17, 4:01 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, Duplin, Franklin and 6 more	59 min
Sep 17, 4:35 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, Edgecombe, Franklin and 14 more	3 hr
Sep 17, 7:23 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Duplin, Edgecombe, Greene, Halifax, Lenoir, Nash and 4 more	37 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2004 Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2004 Tornado Watches in Maryland, 2004 Every tornado watch 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.