Alert archive / Virginia / Winter Storm Watches in 2021

Winter Storm Watch 3, NWS Baltimore/Washington

February 5, 202133 counties in Virginia; 14 counties in Maryland; 6 counties in West Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this winter storm watch at Feb 5, 2021, 3:13 PM EST for 33 counties in Virginia; 14 counties in Maryland; 6 counties in West Virginia. It took effect at Feb 6, 2021, 9:00 PM EST. It was in force for .

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Feb 5, 2021, 3:13 PM EST (20:13 UTC)
In effect from: Feb 6, 2021, 9:00 PM EST
Expired: Feb 6, 2021, 3:22 AM EST
In force
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington

All 53 counties

Anne Arundel County, MD, Baltimore County, MD, Calvert County, MD, Carroll County, MD, Cecil 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, Amherst 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 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, Rockbridge 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), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:16 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 46 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: 1068 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 83 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 142 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 304 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 winter storm 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 winter storm watch went out at Feb 5, 11:00 AM EST, 4 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 5, 11:00 AM EST, 4 hours 13 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 5, 12:24 PM EST, 2 hours 49 minutes before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, Feb 5, 10:43 AM EST, 4 hours 30 minutes before

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Local storm report, Feb 5, 10:55 AM EST, 4 hours 18 minutes before

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Local storm report, Feb 5, 11:00 AM EST, 4 hours 13 minutes before

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Local storm report, Feb 5, 11:48 AM EST, 3 hours 25 minutes before

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Nearby

Winter Storm Watches in Virginia, 2021 Winter Storm Watches in Maryland, 2021 Winter Storm Watches in West Virginia, 2021 Every winter storm watch in 2021

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.