Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Watches in 2019
Tornado Watch 73
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 15, 2019, 12:41 AM EDT for 4 counties in Maryland; 17 counties in North Carolina; 53 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 15, 2019, 12:41 AM EDT (04:41 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 15, 2019, 6:07 AM EDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 74 counties
Dorchester County, MD, Somerset County, MD, Wicomico County, MD, Worcester County, MD, Bertie County, NC, Camden County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Gates County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Nash County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Vance County, NC, Warren County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Accomack County, VA, Amelia County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Hampton, VA, City of Hopewell, 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, Cumberland County, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Gloucester County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, James City County, VA, King and Queen 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, Powhatan County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, Westmoreland County, VA, York County, VA
The radar
The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 49 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:45 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
- 10%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 5%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 50%
Warnings issued inside it
36 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 15, 1:00 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Prince Edward | 45 min |
| Apr 15, 1:03 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Brunswick, Dinwiddie, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway | 42 min |
| Apr 15, 1:10 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin, Halifax, Vance, Warren | 35 min |
| Apr 15, 1:16 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Harnett, Johnston, Wake | 44 min |
| Apr 15, 1:24 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin, Wake | 51 min |
| Apr 15, 1:28 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Amelia, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico and 3 more | 47 min |
| Apr 15, 1:28 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Caroline | 47 min |
| Apr 15, 1:36 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Charles City, King William, New Kent | 24 min |
| Apr 15, 1:38 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Brunswick, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Sussex | 52 min |
| Apr 15, 1:43 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin, Halifax, Warren | 47 min |
| Apr 15, 1:48 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin, Halifax, Nash, Wake | 42 min |
| Apr 15, 1:50 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Caroline, Essex, Hanover, Henrico, King and Queen, King William and 3 more | 40 min |
| Apr 15, 1:53 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Essex, King and Queen, King William, Middlesex | 52 min |
| Apr 15, 2:08 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Charles City, Dinwiddie, James City, New Kent, Prince George, Surry and 2 more | 52 min |
| Apr 15, 2:09 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond | 51 min |
| Apr 15, 2:16 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Charles City, James City, King and Queen, King William, New Kent, Prince George | 29 min |
| Apr 15, 2:26 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Greensville, Southampton, Surry, Sussex, City of Emporia | 49 min |
| Apr 15, 2:28 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Halifax | 17 min |
| Apr 15, 2:32 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Hertford, Northampton | 28 min |
| Apr 15, 2:32 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Essex, King and Queen, King William, Middlesex, New Kent | 43 min |
| Apr 15, 2:44 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Gloucester, King and Queen, Middlesex | 31 min |
| Apr 15, 2:50 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Essex, Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, Westmoreland | 32 min |
| Apr 15, 2:51 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico | 39 min |
| Apr 15, 2:54 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Gloucester, James City, King and Queen, Mathews, Middlesex, York and 1 more | 66 min |
| Apr 15, 2:54 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Lancaster, Northumberland | 51 min |
| Apr 15, 3:01 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Gloucester, James City, King and Queen, Mathews, Middlesex, York | 27 min |
| Apr 15, 3:06 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Isle of Wight, James City, Southampton, Surry, Sussex, York and 6 more | 39 min |
| Apr 15, 3:26 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Gloucester, James City, Mathews, York, City of Newport News | 34 min |
| Apr 15, 3:36 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Isle of Wight, Southampton, City of Franklin, City of Suffolk | 24 min |
| Apr 15, 3:44 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Somerset | 31 min |
| Apr 15, 3:46 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Isle of Wight, York, City of Chesapeake, City of Hampton, City of Newport News, City of Norfolk and 4 more | 44 min |
| Apr 15, 3:51 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Accomack, Northampton | 39 min |
| Apr 15, 4:00 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Somerset, Wicomico, Worcester | 46 min |
| Apr 15, 4:16 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Worcester | 29 min |
| Apr 15, 4:29 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | City of Chesapeake, City of Norfolk, City of Portsmouth, City of Virginia Beach | 48 min |
| Apr 15, 5:00 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Camden, Currituck | 30 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
Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 00:00Z, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 127 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 124 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -158 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 806 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 64 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 196 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 209 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.1
The text
As transmitted.
072 WWUS20 KWNS 150437 SEL3 SPC WW 150437 MDZ000-NCZ000-VAZ000-CWZ000-151100- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 73 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 1240 AM EDT Mon Apr 15 2019 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of Eastern Maryland Northeast North Carolina Southeast Virginia Coastal Waters * Effective this Monday morning from 1240 AM until 700 AM EDT. * Primary threats include... A couple tornadoes possible Isolated damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible SUMMARY...Initial showers and thunderstorms across the Piedmont vicinity of North Carolina into south-central Virginia should continue to increase in intensity through the overnight. Very strong low-level shear/SRH contributes to the potential for a few supercells and bowing segments capable of damaging winds and some tornado risk. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 65 statute miles east and west of a line from 25 miles west northwest of Salisbury MD to 30 miles south southwest of Rocky Mount NC. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3). PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... 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 67...WW 69...WW 71...WW 72... AVIATION...Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to 0.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 450. Mean storm motion vector 23040. ...Guyer
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 14, 11:56 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Frederick and 7 more | 2 hr |
| Apr 15, 1:05 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Caroline, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot | 5 hr |
| Apr 15, 2:30 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Saint Mary's, Somerset | 60 min |
| Apr 15, 3:50 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Caroline, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's | 55 min |
| Apr 14, 10:09 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Burke, Cabarrus and 26 more | 96 min |
| Apr 14, 10:14 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Burke, Cabarrus and 37 more | 6 hr |
| Apr 15, 12:07 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Franklin, Halifax, Nash, Northampton, Vance, Warren | 113 min |
| Apr 15, 2:18 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 21 more | 117 min |
| Apr 14, 8:31 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alleghany, Bland, Craig, Giles, Montgomery, Pulaski and 5 more | 59 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2019Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2019Tornado Watches in Maryland, 2019Every tornado watch in 2019
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.