Alert archive / Maryland / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 847

September 28, 20045 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 28, 2004, 2:25 PM EDT for 5 states. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 28, 2004, 2:25 PM EDT (18:25 UTC)
Expired
Sep 28, 2004, 9:00 PM EDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 33 counties

Kent County, DE, New Castle County, DE, Sussex County, DE, Anne Arundel County, MD, Baltimore County, MD, Caroline County, MD, Cecil County, MD, City of Baltimore, MD, Harford County, MD, Howard County, MD, Kent County, MD, Prince George's County, MD, Queen Anne's County, MD, Talbot County, MD, Atlantic County, NJ, Burlington County, NJ, Camden County, NJ, Cape May County, NJ, Cumberland County, NJ, Gloucester County, NJ, Ocean County, NJ, Salem County, NJ, Chester County, PA, Delaware County, PA, Philadelphia County, PA, Arlington County, VA, City of Alexandria, VA, City of Fairfax, VA, City of Falls Church, VA, City of Manassas, VA, City of Manassas Park, VA, Fairfax County, VA, Prince William County, VA

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 28, 2:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXBaltimore47 min
Sep 28, 2:36 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIKent, New Castle3 hr
Sep 28, 3:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHINew Castle46 min
Sep 28, 3:22 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXFauquier, Prince William, City of Manassas, City of Manassas Park3 hr
Sep 28, 3:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIChester, Delaware3 hr
Sep 28, 4:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHINew Castle44 min
Sep 28, 4:11 PM EDTTornado WarningPHINew Castle34 min
Sep 28, 4:27 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXBaltimore, Carroll, Howard, City of Baltimore6 hr
Sep 28, 4:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHINew Castle79 min
Sep 28, 4:44 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXHarford6 hr
Sep 28, 5:07 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXFairfax, City of Fairfax4 hr
Sep 28, 5:11 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIPhiladelphia3 hr
Sep 28, 5:30 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIKent, New Castle, Sussex3 hr
Sep 28, 6:07 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXFauquier, Prince William, City of Manassas, City of Manassas Park3 hr
Sep 28, 6:26 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXAnne Arundel, Prince George's3 hr
Sep 28, 6:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIKent67 min
Sep 28, 6:47 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHIChester, Delaware3 hr
Sep 28, 8:05 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPHINew Castle6 hr

Discussions around it

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

The nearest sounding before it

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 34 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2004-09-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 95 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2004-09-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 109 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
95 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-78 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
631 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
109 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
172 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 281823
SEL7  
SPC WW 281825
DCZ000-DEZ000-MDZ000-NJZ000-PAZ000-VAZ000-CWZ000-290100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 847
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
225 PM EDT TUE SEP 28 2004

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

       DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
       DELAWARE
       EASTERN MARYLAND
       SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY
       SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA
       EXTREME NORTHERN VIRGINIA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 225 PM UNTIL 900
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 70 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF WASHINGTON DISTRICT OF COLUM
TO 10 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF LAKEHURST NEW JERSEY.

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 846...

DISCUSSION...MOIST/UNSTABLE AIRMASS IS PRESENT FROM THE DC AREA
NORTHEASTWARD INTO SOUTHERN NJ.  SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE
EXPECTED TO OVERSPREAD THIS REGION DURING THE AFTERNOON AS REMNANTS
OF JEANNE APPROACH FROM VA.  FAVORABLE LOW LEVEL VERTICAL SHEAR
PROFILES ARE EXPECTED FOR A RISK OF ISOLATED TORNADOES.

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 18035.


...HART

383,0775 400,0755 400,0731 383,0751

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 28, 8:56 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCSussex2 hr
Sep 28, 1:49 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKent, New Castle, Sussex116 min
Sep 28, 4:36 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKent, New Castle, Sussex114 min
Sep 28, 11:25 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCCalvert, Charles, Dorchester, Saint Mary's, Somerset, Wicomico and 1 more6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Maryland, 2004Tornado Watches in New Jersey, 2004Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2004Every 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.