Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Watches in 2019
Tornado Watch 90
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 19, 2019, 12:48 PM EDT for 13 counties in Maryland; 34 counties in Virginia; 6 counties in West Virginia. It was in force for 9 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 19, 2019, 12:48 PM EDT (16:48 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 19, 2019, 9:50 PM EDT
- In force
- 9 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 53 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, Albemarle County, VA, Arlington County, VA, Augusta 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 Manassas, VA, City of Manassas Park, 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, Prince William County, VA, Rappahannock County, VA, Rockingham County, VA, Shenandoah County, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Warren County, VA, Berkeley County, WV, Hampshire County, WV, Hardy County, WV, Jefferson County, WV, Morgan County, WV, Pendleton County, WV
The radar
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 20 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:48 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
- 20%
- 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
16 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 19, 1:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Culpeper, Fauquier, Spotsylvania, Stafford | 36 min |
| Apr 19, 3:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Highland | 36 min |
| Apr 19, 4:36 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Grant, Hardy | 39 min |
| Apr 19, 4:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Rockingham, Shenandoah | 53 min |
| Apr 19, 5:07 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral | 53 min |
| Apr 19, 5:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Albemarle, Nelson | 50 min |
| Apr 19, 6:15 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LWX | Allegany, Washington | 30 min |
| Apr 19, 7:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Culpeper, Orange, Spotsylvania | 50 min |
| Apr 19, 8:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Spotsylvania, Stafford, City of Fredericksburg | 40 min |
| Apr 19, 8:06 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LWX | Frederick, Washington | 24 min |
| Apr 19, 8:21 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Culpeper, Fauquier, Orange, Prince William, Spotsylvania, Stafford and 3 more | 39 min |
| Apr 19, 8:28 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LWX | Washington | 7 min |
| Apr 19, 8:34 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Calvert, Saint Mary's | 28 min |
| Apr 19, 8:41 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Frederick, Montgomery | 34 min |
| Apr 19, 8:53 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LWX | Fairfax, Loudoun | 22 min |
| Apr 19, 9:17 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LWX | Montgomery | 15 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, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 18 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
- 7 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -8 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 781 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 43 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 209 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 191 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 19, 12:08 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Howard, Montgomery, City of Baltimore | 2 hr |
| Apr 19, 1:17 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, Worcester | 11 hr |
| Apr 19, 3:18 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Somerset | 87 min |
| Apr 19, 4:32 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Charles, Frederick, Howard, Kent and 3 more | 58 min |
| Apr 19, 6:21 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George's | 84 min |
| Apr 19, 10:06 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Floyd, Franklin, Henry, Patrick, Pittsylvania, City of Danville and 2 more | 84 min |
| Apr 19, 10:31 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alleghany, Amherst, Appomattox, Bath, Bedford, Bland and 29 more | 9 hr |
| Apr 19, 12:29 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brunswick, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Greensville and 19 more | 2 hr |
| Apr 19, 1:40 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Botetourt, Buckingham, Campbell and 18 more | 2 hr |
| Apr 19, 4:35 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Appomattox, Brunswick, Campbell, Charlotte, Dinwiddie, Greensville and 9 more | 55 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2019Tornado Watches in Maryland, 2019Tornado Watches in West Virginia, 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.