Alert archive / Maryland / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2021

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 69

March 28, 20214 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Mar 28, 2021, 5:05 PM EDT for 4 states. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 28, 2021, 5:05 PM EDT (21:05 UTC)
Expired
Mar 28, 2021, 9:00 PM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
0.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 34 counties

Kent County, DE, New Castle County, DE, Sussex County, DE, 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, 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, Atlantic County, NJ, Burlington County, NJ, Camden County, NJ, Cape May County, NJ, Cumberland County, NJ, Gloucester County, NJ, Mercer County, NJ, Monmouth County, NJ, Ocean County, NJ, Salem County, NJ, Bucks County, PA, Chester County, PA, Delaware County, PA, Montgomery County, PA, Philadelphia County, PA

The radar

The Dover AFB radar (KDOX), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:05 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
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
5%
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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 28, 5:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXBaltimore, Carroll, Howard, Montgomery40 min
Mar 28, 5:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXBaltimore, Harford, City of Baltimore38 min
Mar 28, 5:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXCecil, Harford47 min
Mar 28, 6:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHINew Castle48 min
Mar 28, 6:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIHunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Morris, Somerset, Warren47 min
Mar 28, 6:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHINew Castle43 min
Mar 28, 7:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLWXAnne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Prince George's, Saint Mary's55 min
Mar 28, 7:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIMercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset60 min
Mar 28, 7:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIAtlantic, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Monmouth, Ocean70 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 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 162 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2021-03-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2021-03-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 140 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
644 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
140 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
249 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

399 
WWUS20 KWNS 282101
SEL9  
SPC WW 282101
DCZ000-DEZ000-MDZ000-NJZ000-PAZ000-VAZ000-CWZ000-290100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 69
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
505 PM EDT Sun Mar 28 2021

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of 
  District Of Columbia
  Delaware
  Eastern Maryland
  Southern New Jersey
  Extreme southeastern Pennsylvania
  Northeastern Virginia
  Coastal Waters

* Effective this Sunday afternoon and evening from 505 PM until
  900 PM EDT.

* Primary threats include...
  Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible
  A tornado or two possible

SUMMARY...A narrow band of shallow convection along a cold front
will likely persist while moving eastward from Maryland and Virginia
into New Jersey and Delaware the remainder of this afternoon into
this evening.  A few damaging gusts will be the main threat, though
a brief tornado with embedded circulations cannot be ruled out.

The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 70
statute miles east and west of a line from 10 miles north of
Philadelphia PA to 50 miles south southwest of Dover DE. For a
complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline
update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU9).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are
favorable for 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. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce
tornadoes.

&&

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 68...

AVIATION...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 400. Mean storm motion vector
27040.

...Thompson

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 28, 1:24 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKent, Sussex2 hr
Mar 28, 7:05 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCNew Castle115 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Maryland, 2021Severe Thunderstorm Watches in New Jersey, 2021Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Pennsylvania, 2021Every severe thunderstorm 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.