The potential for heavy snow at higher elevations in the western U.S. will continue for many spots through the weekend. In the meantime, the eastern half of the continental U.S. will transition to above normal temperatures ahead of a pair of cold fronts next week that will bring readings back to closer to normal as we approach Thanksgiving Day. Read More >
NOUS41 KLWX 052341 PNSLWX DCZ001-MDZ003>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-501-502-VAZ021-025>031- 036>042-050>057-WVZ050>055-501>504-060400- PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 740 PM EDT THU JUN 5 2008 ...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DAMAGE SURVEY TEAM PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENTS OF JUNE 4 EXTREME WEATHER EVENT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON WEATHER FORECAST OFFICE STORM DAMAGE SURVEY TEAMS SURVEYED DAMAGE IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS TODAY. VERY STRONG STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AFFECTED MOST OF CENTRAL AND NORTHERN VIRGINIA...MARYLAND WEST OF THE BAY...THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND THE EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA PANHANDLE. SURVEY TEAMS DETERMINED THAT TORNADOES OCCURRED IN CALVERT COUNTY MARYLAND...AND CLARKE...CULPEPER AND STAFFORD COUNTIES IN VIRGINIA. IN WASHINGTON COUNTY...THE TEAM EXAMINED WIND DAMAGE TO STRUCTURES AND TREES IN AN AREA FROM SHARPSBURG TO KEEDYSVILLE TO BOONSBORO. A FEW OUTBUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED AND EXTENSIVE TREE DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED. SOME HOMES SUSTAINED WIND DAMAGE TO THEIR ROOF STRUCTURES AND ONE GARAGE WAS DAMAGED. SOME OF THE DAMAGE TO A BARN...AND ONE AREA OF WIND DAMAGE TO TREES BETWEEN SHARPSBURG AND KEEDYSVILLE WAS SEVERE. MANY HARDWOOD AND SOFTWOOD TREES WERE SNAPPED OFF AT THE TRUNK. ALL OF THE DAMAGE WAS ALIGNED ALONG THE DIRECTION OF THE WIND GUSTS AND ALL OF THIS WIND DAMAGE WAS DETERMINED TO BE CAUSED BY STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. VERY STRONG WIND GUSTS TO 100 MPH ARE ESTIMATED BASED ON THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE STORMS. IN JEFFERSON COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA...DAMAGE AROUND RANSON...CHARLES TOWN AND KABLETOWN WAS EXAMINED. SOME MINOR STRUCTURAL WIND DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED IN THE LEETOWN AREA ALONG WITH LARGE NUMBERS OF DOWNED AND UPROOTED TREES. OTHER WIND DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED IN RANSON... MAINLY TO TREES...BUT ALSO SOME SIDING DAMAGE. OTHER WIND DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED NEAR KABLETOWN...MAINLY TO TREES AND OUTBUILDINGS LEADING TO SOME LOSS OF LIVESTOCK. WIND DAMAGE THROUGHOUT JEFFERSON COUNTY PREDOMINANTLY WAS CONSISTENT WITH STRAIGHT LINE WINDS WITH SPEEDS OF 70 TO 80 MPH. A FEW AREAS OF MORE INTENSE WIND DAMAGE CONSISTENT WITH WINDS OF 80 TO 90 MPH OCCURED WITH SIGNS AND A TOWER KNOCKED OVER. AN 85 MPH WIND GUST WAS MEASURED BY AN AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR NEAR HALLTOWN WV AT 323 PM. IN ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY MARYLAND...A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SURVEY TEAM EXAMINED WIND DAMAGE IN THE BELLEVIEW ESTATES SECTION OF SEVERNA PARK. LARGE NUMBERS OF HARDWOOD TREES...SOME UP TO 4 FEET IN DIAMETER...WERE UPROOTED WITH SEVERAL FALLING INTO SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCES CAUSING DAMAGE. THE TREE DAMAGE AND TREE FALL PATTERN WAS INDICATIVE OF STRAIGHT LINE WINDS WITH SPEEDS OF 70 TO 80 MPH. IN CALVERT COUNTY MARYLAND...A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SURVEY TEAM DETERMINED THAT AN EF-0 TORNADO IMPACTED PORTIONS OF CHESAPEAKE BEACH ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AT APPROXIMATELY 340 PM. APPROXIMATELY A DOZEN HARDWOOD TREES IN THE RICHFIELD STATION AREA OF CHESAPEAKE BEACH WERE UPROOTED. ONE SINGLE FAMILY HOME HAD A 3 FOOT DIAMETER TULIP POPLAR TREE FALL THROUGH THE ROOF. PORTIONS OF ROOFS AND SIDING WERE TORN AWAY FROM 10-20 SINGLE FAMILY HOMES. TREE AND ROOF DAMAGE ALSO OCCURRED IN THE BAYVIEW HILLS AREA OF CHESAPEAKE BEACH. IN THIS LOCATION...SIDING DAMAGE ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SINGLE FAMILY HOMES WAS OBSERVED. A FREE STANDING LIGHT POLE IN LYNWOOD T. KELLAM MEMORIAL RECREATIONAL PARK WAS BENT. THE ENTIRE ROOF DECKING OF A RESTAURANT ON BAYSIDE ROAD WAS BLOWN AWAY. THE DAMAGE IS INDICATED AS A HIGH END EF-0 TORNADO...WITH WIND GUSTS ESTIMATED AT 85 MPH. THE DAMAGE PATH OF THE TORNADO WAS APPROXIMATELY 1.5 MILES LONG... AND 75 YARDS WIDE. IN PAGE COUNTY VIRGINIA...AN AREAL SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED OF THE TOWN OF LURAY IN PAGE COUNTY IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY OF VIRGINIA. AN INTERMITTENT PATH OF DAMAGE ABOUT 3 MILES LONG WAS CAUSED BY STRAIGHT LINE WINDS FROM THUNDERSTORM MICROBURSTS. NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONE HOME HAD ITS TIN ROOF AND CHIMNEY BLOWN OFF. NUMEROUS BARNS AND OUTBUILDINGS WERE EITHER DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. ONE MOBILE HOME WAS DAMAGED. 8 PARKED VEHICLES HAD THEIR WINDOWS BLOWN OUT BY WIND BLOWN ROCKS. MANY POWER LINES WERE DOWNED. THE STRONGEST WIND IN THE LURAY EVENT DESTROYED A LARGE WELL CONSTRUCTED 30X40 FOOT BARN. THE MAXIMUM WIND WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 90 MPH. TOTAL STRUCTURAL DAMAGE BY LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT WAS ESTIMATED TO BE AROUND $237,000. IN FREDERICK COUNTY VIRGINIA...AN AREAL SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED OF NORTHERN FREDERICK COUNTY VIRGINIA JUST NORTHWEST OF THE CITY OF WINCHESTER. THE SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED BETWEEN THE TOWNS OF GAINESBORO AND GORE. A NEARLY CONTINUOUS PATH OF DAMAGE ABOUT 5 MILES LONG ALONG STONY HILL ROAD WAS DETERMINED TO BE CAUSED BY STRAIGHT LINE WINDS FROM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM. MAXIMUM WINDS WERE ESTIMATED TO BE 100 MPH. DOZENS OF TREES WERE UPROOTED OR SNAPPED. WINDOWS WERE BLOWN OUT OF A FEW VEHICLES AND HOMES. A LARGE TOWER WAS TOPPLED. SEVERAL HOMES WERE DAMAGED BY DOWNED TREES. A LARGE POWER CORRIDOR LINE WAS BROKEN. TOTAL STRUCTURAL DAMAGE WAS NOT KNOWN BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT THIS TIME. IN CLARKE COUNTY VIRGINIA...AN AREAL SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED OVER EASTERN CLARKE COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN VIRGINIA. A SEVERE STORM CREATED AN INTERMITTENT PATH OF DAMAGE FROM THE TOWN OF MILLWOOD EAST NORTHEAST TO WHERE ROUTE 7 CROSSES THE BLUE RIDGE AROUND THE SHENANDOAH RETREAT AREA. THE DAMAGE WAS MOST CONSISTENT AROUND THE TOWN OF MILLWOOD. AT LEAST 12 HOMES IN THAT AREA WERE DAMAGED... CONSISTING OF TREES INTO HOUSES... SIDING... AND ROOFING DAMAGE. THE MAJORITY OF THE DAMAGE IN EASTERN CLARKE COUNTY WAS CAUSED BY STRAIGHT LINE WINDS OF 80 TO 90 MPH FROM MICROBURSTS PRODUCED BY THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM. TREES WERE MAINLY ALL LAID OUT PARALLEL TO THE PATH OF THE STORM. HOWEVER...A SMALL EF-1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AMONGST THE POCKETS OF STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE. NEAR THE CARTER HALL AREA OF MILLWOOD... NEARLY ALL OF THE LARGE TREES IN ONE STRAND WERE UPROOTED OR SNAPPED AND FELL IN NEARLY EVERY DIRECTION. THE TORNADO HAD A PATH LENGTH OF A HALF MILE AND A WIDTH OF 100 YARDS. MAXIMUM WIND SPEED WAS 90 MPH. TOTAL STRUCTURAL DAMAGE AT THIS TIME IS ESTIMATED BY LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT TO BE AROUND $44,000 IN EASTERN CLARKE COUNTY. ONE DAMAGE SURVEY TEAM IS STILL COMPLETING ITS WORK AT THIS TIME. PRELIMINARILY IT APPEARS THAT THERE WAS A TORNADO IN CULPEPER COUNTY AND ANOTHER TORNADO IN STAFFORD COUNTY. FURTHER DETAILS ON THE STRENGTH...LENGTH AND WIDTH OF THESE TORNADOES WILL BE AVAILABLE EITHER LATE THIS EVENING OR FRIDAY. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND OUR APPRECIATION TO OUR SPOTTERS...THE CIVIL AIR PATROL...AND TO STATE AND COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE DURING AND AFTER THIS EXTREME WEATHER EVENT. $$ MANNING/STRONG/LEE/SMZ