Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Watches in 2010

Tornado Watch 733

October 27, 20104 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 27, 2010, 12:13 PM EDT for 4 states. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Oct 27, 2010, 12:13 PM EDT (16:13 UTC)
Expired
Oct 27, 2010, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 102 counties

Kent County, DE, New Castle County, DE, Sussex County, DE, Anne Arundel County, MD, Baltimore County, MD, Calvert County, MD, Caroline County, MD, Cecil County, MD, Charles County, MD, City of Baltimore, MD, Dorchester County, MD, Harford County, MD, Howard County, MD, Kent County, MD, Montgomery County, MD, Prince George's County, MD, Queen Anne's County, MD, Saint Mary's County, MD, Somerset County, MD, Talbot County, MD, Wicomico County, MD, Worcester County, MD, Atlantic County, NJ, Cape May County, NJ, Cumberland County, NJ, Salem County, NJ, Accomack County, VA, Amelia County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Arlington County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Alexandria, VA, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Danville, 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 Lynchburg, 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, Greensville County, VA, Halifax 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, Lunenburg County, VA, Mathews County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Northampton County, VA, Northumberland County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Orange County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Prince William County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, Westmoreland County, VA, York County, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:16 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
10%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 27, 1:17 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLWXMontgomery, Prince George's82 min
Oct 27, 1:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCharles, Prince George's50 min
Oct 27, 3:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAppomattox, Buckingham, Campbell42 min
Oct 27, 3:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHISussex59 min
Oct 27, 3:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQAmelia, Cumberland, Goochland, Powhatan48 min
Oct 27, 3:53 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQAmelia, Cumberland, Powhatan37 min
Oct 27, 4:23 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQAmelia, Chesterfield, Powhatan, City of Richmond37 min
Oct 27, 4:26 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQCaroline36 min
Oct 27, 4:37 PM EDTTornado WarningLWXSpotsylvania, Stafford, City of Fredericksburg23 min
Oct 27, 4:38 PM EDTTornado WarningLWXKing George36 min
Oct 27, 4:48 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQCaroline, Essex, Westmoreland42 min
Oct 27, 4:53 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQChesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, City of Richmond37 min
Oct 27, 5:21 PM EDTTornado WarningLWXCharles, Saint Mary's39 min
Oct 27, 5:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQBrunswick, Mecklenburg44 min
Oct 27, 5:31 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQEssex, Hanover, King and Queen, King William, New Kent29 min
Oct 27, 5:38 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQBrunswick, Mecklenburg32 min
Oct 27, 6:00 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQEssex, King and Queen, Lancaster, Middlesex, Northumberland, Richmond45 min
Oct 27, 6:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQBrunswick, Greensville, Southampton, Sussex, City of Emporia39 min
Oct 27, 6:45 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQLancaster, Northumberland15 min
Oct 27, 7:05 PM EDTTornado WarningLWXKing George, Spotsylvania40 min
Oct 27, 7:09 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQCaroline21 min
Oct 27, 7:15 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQBrunswick, Greensville, Mecklenburg45 min
Oct 27, 7:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQSomerset, Worcester45 min
Oct 27, 7:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKHenry, Pittsylvania73 min
Oct 27, 7:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQGoochland, Hanover, Henrico, Louisa, Powhatan41 min
Oct 27, 7:36 PM EDTTornado WarningLWXCharles, Saint Mary's42 min
Oct 27, 7:51 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKHenry, Pittsylvania, City of Danville54 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 126 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2010-10-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 402 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2010-10-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 226 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
402 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-32 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
591 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
226 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
239 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
4.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 27, 5:28 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCSussex2 hr
Oct 27, 11:54 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKent, New Castle66 min
Oct 27, 3:21 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKent, Sussex54 min
Oct 27, 4:48 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKent, Sussex57 min
Oct 26, 11:05 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllegany, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery and 1 more55 min
Oct 27, 12:24 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllegany, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery and 1 more66 min
Oct 27, 7:16 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalvert, Charles, Dorchester, Saint Mary's, Somerset, Wicomico and 1 more59 min
Oct 27, 7:46 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCCalvert, Charles, Dorchester, Saint Mary's, Somerset, Wicomico and 1 more8 hr
Oct 27, 2:44 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAmelia, Appomattox, Brunswick, Buckingham, Campbell, Charles City and 34 more7 hr
Oct 27, 4:03 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCMecklenburg87 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2010Tornado Watches in Maryland, 2010Tornado Watches in New Jersey, 2010Every tornado watch in 2010

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.