Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Watches in 2024
Tornado Watch 87
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 3, 2024, 12:38 PM EDT for 9 counties in Maryland; 13 counties in North Carolina; 60 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 3, 2024, 12:38 PM EDT (16:38 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 3, 2024, 7:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 65 kt
All 82 counties
Calvert County, MD, Caroline County, MD, Dorchester County, MD, Queen Anne's County, MD, Saint Mary's County, MD, Somerset County, MD, Talbot County, MD, Wicomico County, MD, Worcester County, MD, Caswell County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Gates County, NC, Granville County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Nash County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Person County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Vance County, NC, Warren County, NC, Accomack County, VA, Amelia County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Danville, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Hampton, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Lynchburg, 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, Gloucester County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, James City County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King George County, VA, King William County, VA, Lancaster 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, Pittsylvania 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), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:38 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
- 30%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 20%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 10%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 60%
Warnings issued inside it
25 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 2:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Granville, Vance, Warren | 35 min |
| Apr 3, 2:25 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Amelia, Powhatan | 19 min |
| Apr 3, 2:46 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Warren | 14 min |
| Apr 3, 2:47 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Northampton | 28 min |
| Apr 3, 2:57 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Caroline, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, King and Queen, King William and 1 more | 48 min |
| Apr 3, 3:04 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Hanover, Henrico, King William | 26 min |
| Apr 3, 3:07 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin, Nash, Wake | 38 min |
| Apr 3, 3:13 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Brunswick, Greensville, City of Emporia | 32 min |
| Apr 3, 3:19 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Caroline, Essex, King and Queen, Richmond, Westmoreland | 41 min |
| Apr 3, 3:26 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Franklin, Halifax, Nash, Warren | 49 min |
| Apr 3, 3:43 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Essex, King and Queen, Northumberland, Richmond | 32 min |
| Apr 3, 3:50 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Halifax | 25 min |
| Apr 3, 3:54 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Brunswick, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Nottoway, Prince George and 5 more | 51 min |
| Apr 3, 3:55 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Essex, Northumberland, Richmond, Westmoreland | 31 min |
| Apr 3, 3:59 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Surry, Sussex | 46 min |
| Apr 3, 4:03 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Northumberland, Richmond | 27 min |
| Apr 3, 4:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Saint Mary's | 29 min |
| Apr 3, 4:07 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Northampton | 38 min |
| Apr 3, 4:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Essex, Lancaster, Middlesex, Northumberland, Richmond | 52 min |
| Apr 3, 4:09 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Surry, Sussex | 23 min |
| Apr 3, 4:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LWX | Saint Mary's | 16 min |
| Apr 3, 4:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Dorchester, Wicomico | 39 min |
| Apr 3, 5:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PHI | Caroline, Talbot | 42 min |
| Apr 3, 5:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Dorchester | 21 min |
| Apr 3, 6:11 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Mecklenburg | 22 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, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 139 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 483 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 62 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 38 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 116 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 3, 11:20 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Calvert, Charles, Dorchester, Saint Mary's, Somerset, Talbot and 2 more | 115 min |
| Apr 3, 4:16 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Somerset | 119 min |
| Apr 3, 2:22 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Caswell, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Halifax, Nash and 4 more | 83 min |
| Apr 3, 2:47 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Chatham, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Johnston, Lee and 5 more | 118 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2024Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2024Tornado Watches in Maryland, 2024Every tornado watch in 2024
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.