Alert archive / Virginia / Flood Watches in 2016

Flood Watch 2, NWS Baltimore/Washington

February 15, 201629 counties in Virginia; 13 counties in Maryland; 4 counties in West Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this flood watch at Feb 15, 2016, 3:06 PM EST for 29 counties in Virginia; 13 counties in Maryland; 4 counties in West Virginia. It took effect at Feb 16, 2016, 6:00 AM EST. It was in force for 9 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Feb 15, 2016, 3:06 PM EST (20:06 UTC)
In effect from: Feb 16, 2016, 6:00 AM EST
Expired: Feb 16, 2016, 3:03 PM EST
In force: 9 hr
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington
Flood severity: None

All 46 counties

Anne Arundel County, MD, Baltimore County, MD, Calvert County, MD, Carroll County, MD, Charles County, MD, City of Baltimore, MD, Frederick County, MD, Harford County, MD, Howard County, MD, Montgomery County, MD, Prince George's County, MD, Saint Mary's County, MD, Washington County, MD, Arlington County, VA, City of Alexandria, VA, City of Charlottesville, VA, City of Fairfax, VA, City of Falls Church, VA, City of Fredericksburg, VA, City of Harrisonburg, VA, City of Staunton, VA, City of Waynesboro, VA, City of Winchester, VA, Clarke County, VA, Culpeper County, VA, Fairfax County, VA, Fauquier County, VA, Frederick County, VA, Greene County, VA, Highland County, VA, King George County, VA, Loudoun County, VA, Madison County, VA, Nelson County, VA, Orange County, VA, Page County, VA, Rappahannock County, VA, Rockingham County, VA, Shenandoah County, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Warren County, VA, Berkeley County, WV, Jefferson County, WV, Morgan County, WV, Pendleton County, WV

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 32 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:07 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 37 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 704 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 74 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 264 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 340 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 flood watch 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 flood watch went out at Feb 15, 3:05 PM EST, 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 15, 3:05 PM EST, 1 minute before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 15, 9:09 AM EST, 5 hours 57 minutes before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, Feb 15, 2:57 PM EST, 9 minutes before

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Local storm report, Feb 15, 2:58 PM EST, 8 minutes before

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Local storm report, Feb 15, 3:00 PM EST, 6 minutes before

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Local storm report, Feb 15, 3:04 PM EST, 2 minutes before

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Local storm report, Feb 15, 3:05 PM EST, 1 minute before

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Local storm report, Feb 15, 3:06 PM EST, 0 minutes before

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The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 15, 3:50 AM EST	Small Craft Advisory	LWX		28 hr
Feb 15, 11:00 AM EST	River Flood Watch	LWX	Loudoun	24 hr
Feb 15, 11:00 AM EST	River Flood Watch	LWX	Loudoun	24 hr
Feb 15, 11:04 AM EST	River Flood Watch	LWX	Clarke, Warren	24 hr
Feb 15, 11:09 AM EST	River Flood Watch	LWX	Frederick	58 hr
Feb 15, 11:13 AM EST	River Flood Watch	LWX	Berkeley, Jefferson	54 hr
Feb 15, 11:15 AM EST	River Flood Watch	LWX	Morgan	53 hr

Nearby

Flood Watches in Virginia, 2016 Flood Watches in Maryland, 2016 Flood Watches in West Virginia, 2016 Every flood watch in 2016

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.