Alert archive / Virginia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2009

Flash Flood Warning 6, NWS Baltimore/Washington

May 28, 2009Frederick County, Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this flash flood warning at May 28, 2009, 4:01 PM EDT for Frederick County, Virginia. It was in force for 2 hr. 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 28, 2009, 4:01 PM EDT (20:01 UTC)
Expired
May 28, 2009, 6:29 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area
Storm-based polygon
Flood severity
None

County Frederick County, VA

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:03 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 nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 206 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2009-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 79 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2009-05-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 70 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
79 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-32 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
674 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
70 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
66 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 flash flood warning went out at May 28, 2:55 PM EDT, 1 hour 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 28, 2:55 PM EDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
255 PM EDT THU MAY 28 2009

.SYNOPSIS...

A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION EARLY FRIDAY. A REINFORCING
FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA EARLY SUNDAY. HIGH PRESSURE
RETURNS ON MONDAY BEFORE ANOTHER FRONT AFFECTS THE REGION DURING
THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK.

&&

.NEAR TERM /TONIGHT/...

RW/TRW HV DVLPD ACROSS THE CWA...AND SHOULD CONT FOR THE NEXT SVRL
HRS. CELL WARNED ON IN ERN W.V. SHOWING STRONG HAIL CORE ALOFT. WRF/ARW
SHOWS LN OVR OH PROGRESSING E INTO THE I-95 CORRIDOR ARND 03Z. EVE
SHIFT WL MONITOR TO SEE IF IT HOLDS TOGETHER. PCPN XPCTD TO BE MINIMAL
AFTER MDNGT.

AREA SHOULD RMN M CLDY OVRNGT W/ PTCHY FOG DVLPG. TEMPS IN M60S.

&&

.SHORT TERM /FRIDAY/...

CD FNT PROGGED TO MOVE THRU THE I-95 DURG LATE AFTN FRI. SREF
INSTABILITY PARAMETERS SHOW BEST PTNL FOR SVR IN THE CWA WL BE E
OF I-95 DURG LATE AFTN IN GNRL AGREEMENT W/ WHAT SPC HAS DRAWN OUT
FOR DAY 2 SVR OUTLOOK. ANOTHER DAY W/ PLENTY OF CLDS...ALTHO PRBLY
MORE BREAKS THAN TDA. TEMPS M70S MTNS...L80S ELSEWHERE,

&&

.LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/...

A COLD FRONT WILL PASS THROUGH THE EASTERN CWA EARLY FRIDAY EVENING
AND WEAK HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN BEHIND THIS FRONT BRINGING A
RETURN OF COOLER AND DRIER CONDITIONS. AN UPPER-LEVEL DISTURBANCE
WILL PASS BY TO THE NORTH SATURDAY INTO SATURDAY EVENING AND THE
COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM WILL PASS THROUGH THE
MID-ATLANTIC DURING THIS TIME. DESPITE THE FORCING...INSTABILITY
WILL BE LACKING DUE TO DRY AIR. WILL CONTINUE TO FOCUS POPS WEST OF
THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS WHERE HIGHER TERRAIN AND UPSLOPE MAY PLAY A
FACTOR.

HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN BEHIND THIS SYSTEM OVERNIGHT SATURDAY
INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK BRINGING DRY CONDITIONS. THE NEXT COLD FRONT
WILL APPROACH THE REGION TOWARDS THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK BUT IT WILL
LIKELY STALL OUT OVERHEAD IN A ZONAL FLOW ALOFT. DISTURBANCES RIDING
ALONG THE BOUNDARY WILL BRING A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.

&&

.AVIATION /THIS EVE THROUGH TUESDAY/...

CIGS IN MVFR CAT MAY DCRS TO IFR OVRNGT AS FOG/LOW CLDS DVLP. IN
ADDITION TSTMS WL CONT TO FORM ACROSS THE MID ATLC RGN THRU AT
LEAST MID EVENG.

TSTMS PSBL AGN FRI AFTN ACROSS THE MID ATLC.

VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. AN
ISOLATED SHOWER/T-STORM MAY AFFECT THE TERMINALS SATURDAY
AFTERNOON AND EVENING...MAINLY ACROSS KMRB. HIGH PRESSURE WILL
BRING MORE VFR CONDITIONS SUNDAY INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. A BETTER
CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TOWARDS THE
MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK.

&&

.MARINE...

WINDS BLO SCA VALUES TNGT AND FRI. TSTMS THIS EVE AND LATE TMRW
AFTN WL BE THE BIGGEST PROBS.

A COLD FRONT WILL PASS THROUGH THE WATERS EARLY FRIDAY EVENING
BRINGING A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. THUNDERSTORMS MAY
CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL EARLY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD OVER
THE WATERS OVERNIGHT FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. A REINFORCING COLD FRONT
WILL PASS THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...BUT WIND SPEEDS
SHOULD REMAIN BELOW SCA CRITERIA.

HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD OVER THE WATERS EARLY NEXT WEEK...BUT THE
NEXT BOUNDARY WILL BRING A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
TOWARDS THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK.

&&

.LWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
DC...NONE.
MD...NONE.
VA...NONE.
WV...NONE.
MARINE...NONE.

&&

PRODUCTS...WOODY/BJL
Hazardous weather outlook, May 28, 3:56 PM EDT, 5 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 28, 2:41 PM EDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
241 PM EDT THU MAY 28 2009

MDZ502-WVZ050-051-281915-
HAMPSHIRE WV-MORGAN WV-CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALLEGANY MD-
241 PM EDT THU MAY 28 2009

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO AFFECT HAMPSHIRE...MORGAN AND CENTRAL AND
EASTERN ALLEGANY COUNTIES...

AT 241 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER
LEVELS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

LOCATIONS THAT WILL LIKELY BE AFFECTED BY THIS STORM INCLUDE
OLDTOWN...TOWN CREEK...PAW PAW...MAGNOLIA...GREEN RIDGE AND PUMPKIN
CENTER.

WIND GUSTS OF AROUND 40 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.

HEAVY DOWNPOURS MAY REDUCE VISIBILITY BELOW A MILE AND CAUSE PONDING
OF WATER ON ROADWAYS.

KRAMAR
Special weather statement, May 28, 3:12 PM EDT, 49 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Special weather statement, May 28, 3:26 PM EDT, 35 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 28, 4:22 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningLWX72 min
May 28, 4:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WatchLWXArlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Frederick, Greene and 20 more7 hr
May 28, 6:27 PM EDTAreal Flood WarningLWXFrederick2 hr
May 28, 2:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXAllegany39 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Virginia, 2009Every flash flood warning in 2009

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.