Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Watches in 2013

Tornado Watch 131

April 19, 201319 counties in Maryland; 78 counties in Virginia; 5 counties in West Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 19, 2013, 2:31 PM EDT for 19 counties in Maryland; 78 counties in Virginia; 5 counties in West Virginia. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 19, 2013, 2:31 PM EDT (18:31 UTC)
Expired
Apr 19, 2013, 10:00 PM EDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 102 counties

Anne Arundel County, MD, Baltimore County, MD, Calvert County, MD, Caroline County, MD, Carroll County, MD, Cecil County, MD, Charles County, MD, City of Baltimore, MD, Dorchester County, MD, Frederick 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, Talbot County, MD, Washington County, MD, Albemarle County, VA, Amelia County, VA, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Arlington County, VA, Augusta County, VA, Bedford 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 Charlottesville, 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 Fredericksburg, VA, City of Harrisonburg, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Manassas, VA, City of Manassas Park, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Richmond, VA, City of Staunton, VA, City of Waynesboro, VA, City of Winchester, VA, Clarke County, VA, Culpeper County, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Fairfax County, VA, Fauquier County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Franklin County, VA, Frederick County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Greene County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Henry County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King George County, VA, King William County, VA, Loudoun County, VA, Louisa County, VA, Lunenburg County, VA, Madison County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA, Nelson County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Orange County, VA, Page County, VA, Patrick County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Prince William County, VA, Rappahannock County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Rockingham County, VA, Shenandoah County, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Sussex County, VA, Warren County, VA, Westmoreland County, VA, Berkeley County, WV, Hampshire County, WV, Hardy County, WV, Jefferson County, WV, Morgan County, WV

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 154 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:33 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
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
20%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 19, 2:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKCarroll, Floyd, Patrick41 min
Apr 19, 3:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKFloyd, Franklin, Henry, Patrick60 min
Apr 19, 4:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAmherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Campbell, Pittsylvania, City of Lynchburg63 min
Apr 19, 4:37 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQMecklenburg23 min
Apr 19, 4:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXAlbemarle, Nelson37 min
Apr 19, 4:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAmherst, Appomattox, Buckingham65 min
Apr 19, 4:57 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQMecklenburg33 min
Apr 19, 5:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKCharlotte, Halifax37 min
Apr 19, 5:23 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQBrunswick, Dinwiddie, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg37 min
Apr 19, 5:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXAlbemarle, Greene, Madison, Nelson, Orange, City of Charlottesville37 min
Apr 19, 5:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCumberland, Fluvanna, Prince Edward35 min
Apr 19, 5:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQLunenburg, Mecklenburg, Prince Edward52 min
Apr 19, 5:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQAmelia, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Goochland, Louisa, Powhatan51 min
Apr 19, 5:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQBrunswick, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Prince George, City of Colonial Heights, City of Petersburg47 min
Apr 19, 6:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXAlbemarle, Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, Orange, Spotsylvania44 min
Apr 19, 6:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQAmelia, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Lunenburg, Nottoway, Powhatan40 min
Apr 19, 6:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQBrunswick, Dinwiddie, Nottoway36 min
Apr 19, 6:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCaroline, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, King William, Louisa and 2 more52 min
Apr 19, 6:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQBrunswick, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway33 min
Apr 19, 6:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCharles44 min
Apr 19, 6:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCharles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Henrico, James City, New Kent and 4 more43 min
Apr 19, 6:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQChesterfield, Dinwiddie, Prince George, City of Colonial Heights, City of Hopewell, City of Petersburg39 min
Apr 19, 6:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCharles, Montgomery, Prince George's42 min
Apr 19, 6:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCaroline, Essex, King and Queen, King William42 min
Apr 19, 6:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQAmelia, Brunswick, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Lunenburg and 2 more48 min
Apr 19, 7:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCalvert, Charles, Prince George's, Saint Mary's45 min
Apr 19, 7:07 PM EDTTornado WarningLWXCharles, Prince George's23 min
Apr 19, 7:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQEssex, King and Queen, King William, Richmond, Westmoreland51 min
Apr 19, 7:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCharles City, Chesterfield, Henrico, James City, King and Queen, King William and 3 more48 min
Apr 19, 7:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXAnne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Prince George's42 min
Apr 19, 7:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCalvert, Charles, Prince George's, Saint Mary's38 min
Apr 19, 7:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHICaroline, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot61 min
Apr 19, 7:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQChesterfield, Essex, Hanover, Henrico, King and Queen, King William and 5 more44 min
Apr 19, 7:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQBrunswick, Charles City, Dinwiddie, Greensville, James City, Prince George and 5 more53 min
Apr 19, 7:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXAnne Arundel, Baltimore, City of Baltimore46 min
Apr 19, 7:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQEssex, Gloucester, King and Queen, Lancaster, Middlesex, Northumberland and 1 more51 min
Apr 19, 7:59 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQGreensville, Southampton, Sussex, City of Emporia31 min
Apr 19, 8:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCalvert, Saint Mary's30 min
Apr 19, 8:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHICecil52 min
Apr 19, 8:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCharles City, Isle of Wight, Southampton, Surry, Sussex, City of Chesapeake and 2 more47 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

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 115 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 2013-04-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 105 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 2013-04-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 250 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
105 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
491 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
250 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
333 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 19, 1:27 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Cecil, Charles and 11 more63 min
Apr 19, 4:36 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Cecil, Charles and 9 more114 min
Apr 19, 6:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCSomerset, Wicomico, Worcester4 hr
Apr 19, 6:54 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnne Arundel, Calvert, Caroline, Charles, Dorchester, Howard and 7 more66 min
Apr 19, 12:35 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHenry, City of Danville115 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2013Tornado Watches in Maryland, 2013Tornado Watches in West Virginia, 2013Every tornado watch in 2013

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.