2019 Mid-Atlantic Severe Wx - General Discussion

[AmericanWxFreak]

Found the guys photography page on VSCO - here is another shot he took that looks similar. His panorama is certainly helping it appear more curved than it truly was - but it def had some nice curvature from my POV too. This guy was in Downtown Columbia @ the mall and I was 10 mins S and E so he had a different angle as well. 

 

[Eskimo Joe]

18 minutes ago, mappy said:

did they? good. I never went back to look to see what kind of responses they got. i get the need to tweet out that UMBC was under a warning, especially with graduation ongoing. But it such a horribly worded tweet. 

A number of universities leverage automated services from a private sector company out of central PA. University of MD College Park got slammed for this automated tornado warning service last year when there was no tornado warning.  

[mappy]

Just now, Eskimo Joe said:

A number of universities leverage automated services from a private sector company out of central PA. University of MD College Park got slammed for this automated tornado warning service last year when there was no tornado warning.  

well thats because UMD pays Accuweather to be their private forecast company. Accuweather issued a tornado warning when NWS did not and UMD shared it. 

[nw baltimore wx]

Those may be real shots that were spruced up through Lightroom.  Also, big, wide angle lenses distort photos, especially on the edges, so it would make sense that the photos above look somewhat "rounded."

I have no opinion on whether they are real or not.  I'm still mad that the "enhanced" area got gypped. 

[Eskimo Joe]

1 minute ago, mappy said:

well thats because UMD pays Accuweather to be their private forecast company. Accuweather issued a tornado warning when NWS did not and UMD shared it. 

Yup.  Not bashing folks, just making an observation that during events like this wx comms can be an issue...our office doesn't rely on automated systems to push stuff to social media.  There's too many cases of it causing more confusion than help.

[high risk]

2 minutes ago, nw baltimore wx said:

Those may be real shots that were spruced up through Lightroom.  Also, big, wide angle lenses distort photos, especially on the edges, so it would make sense that the photos above look somewhat "rounded."

I have no opinion on whether they are real or not.  I'm still mad that the "enhanced" area got gypped. 

 If it's legit, the panoramic and "big lens" effects must really be screwing me up.     I still don't see how the light exists on the left side if this is looking west, unless that bright area is looking south and the panorama distorts that.   The radar image shows no way to see clear sky to the west.

[mappy]

18 minutes ago, Eskimo Joe said:

Yup.  Not bashing folks, just making an observation that during events like this wx comms can be an issue...our office doesn't rely on automated systems to push stuff to social media.  There's too many cases of it causing more confusion than help.

I dont see anything wrong with an automated tweet, if its coming from NWS Tornado or something. But putting out their own tweet with poor wording is really bad practice for a police department. 

[Treckasec]

12 minutes ago, high risk said:

 If it's legit, the panoramic and "big lens" effects must really be screwing me up.     I still don't see how the light exists on the left side if this is looking west, unless that bright area is looking south and the panorama distorts that.   The radar image shows no way to see clear sky to the west.

Could it be possible that the photo was taken at a section of the line that was bowing out? That might've caused the "round" look to the storm, outside of the wide lens/panaroma.

[AmericanWxFreak]

13 minutes ago, Treckasec said:

Could it be possible that the photo was taken at a section of the line that was bowing out? That might've caused the "round" look to the storm, outside of the wide lens/panaroma.

I think it was a combination of that with the lens. Like I said before, could totally see the skepticism though. I am going to try to get in touch with the guy and ask him a few questions. Anyway, overall it was quite the photogenic storm. Hopefully some more fun this weekend and also hoping the plains threat for early week can make it this way.

[high risk]

11 minutes ago, AmericanWxFreak said:

I think it was a combination of that with the lens. Like I said before, could totally see the skepticism though. I am going to try to get in touch with the guy and ask him a few questions. Anyway, overall it was quite the photogenic storm. Hopefully some more fun this weekend and also hoping the plains threat for early week can make it this way.

       If you do get in touch with this guy, please let us know!     @Trekasec, it was definitely bowing a bit (sort of an embedded HP supercell thing) - see radar image above - but I'm more concerned about the light on the left side of the picture than the rounded look.    With the line extending well to the southwest, I'm not sure how so much light would be visible on the left side of the storm, unless the direction is distorted there.

[ErinInTheSky]

1 hour ago, AmericanWxFreak said:

talking about this one? Im not sure that is fake, it looks very similar to the shots that I got just I wasn't able to get the complete horizon in my shot... 

 

 

Yeah actually that looks pretty real. Looks about exactly like I saw it in person. It also had the same greenish hue to it.

[North Balti Zen]

Is there a pyramid shaped building in HoCo? Because there is a pyramid in that pic.

[AmericanWxFreak]

16 minutes ago, North Balti Zen said:

Is there a pyramid shaped building in HoCo? Because there is a pyramid in that pic.

Yep - its the iconic roof of the Columbia Mall where this photo was taken from the top of a parking garage. 

[snjókoma]

Pretty high impact storm in Arlington. 2/5 without power at the peak. I didn’t get power until 5:30 this morning, and I had power after the derecho! 

[nw baltimore wx]

By the way, I think the high rise in that photo is Kenny's Columbia apartment building.  He wasn't kidding yesterday when he said that the funnel went right over his house.  Unfortunately, he wasn't there yesterday. 

[AmericanWxFreak]

10 minutes ago, nw baltimore wx said:

By the way, I think the high rise in that photo is Kenny's Columbia apartment building.  He wasn't kidding yesterday when he said that the funnel went right over his house.  Unfortunately, he wasn't there yesterday. 

The two taller buildings on the left are office bldgs but the longer and lower white/beige buildings on the right side are the two new luxury appt bldgs. 

[nw baltimore wx]

21 minutes ago, AmericanWxFreak said:

The two taller buildings on the left are office bldgs but the longer and lower white/beige buildings on the right side are the two new luxury appt bldgs. 

Yep.  You're right.  I'm disoriented looking at that shot and can't discern where it was taken from.

[yoda]

LWX is investigating the damage at the National Mall today and will report back about it later 

https://mobile.twitter.com/NWS_BaltWash/status/1131905902112649216

[smokeybandit]

Quote

An EF-1 tornado touched down in the Columbia area Thursday afternoon amid the line of severe storms that rolled through the area yesterday. NWS Survey teams will arrive conduct a full damage surve

 

[smokeybandit]

Here's a different angle on that other pic

 

 

[The Dude]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

Here's a different angle on that other pic

 

 

 

It looks like the picture was taken from the roof of a parking garage at Columbia Mall:  https://www.google.com/maps/place/Columbia,+MD/@39.216361,-76.8613105,32a,35y,197.4h,78.81t/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x89b7dfb06369a051:0xf0d6bd65b687635d!8m2!3d39.2037144!4d-76.8610462

 

From this point, the two high rise buildings on the left of the picture would be almost due south, meaning the light on the left side of the picture would be coming from the clear skies to the east and south of the line of storms.   So, assuming he's using an extreme wide-angle (~10mm) lens, this picture certainly could be legit.

 

[yoda]

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Baltimore MD/Washington DC
436 PM EDT Fri May 24 2019

...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 23 MAY 2019 HOWARD COUNTY TORNADO EVENT...

Start Location...Clarksville in Howard County MD
End Location...Columbia in Howard County MD
Date...May 23 2019
Estimated Time...327 PM EDT
Maximum EF-Scale Rating...EF1
Estimated Maximum Wind Speed...95 mph
Maximum Path Width...150 yards
Path Length...5.5 miles
Beginning Lat/Lon...39.2072/-76.9451
Ending Lat/Lon...39.1790/-76.8484
* Fatalities...0
* Injuries...1

...Summary...

A line of showers and thunderstorms crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains
around 2:30 PM 23 May 2019, then tapped into strong thermodynamics and
wind shear, creating a Quasi-Linear Convective System (QLCS) that increased
in intensity as it tracked southeast across central and southern Maryland,
Washington DC, and northern Virginia.  The QLCS spawned an EF1 tornado in
Howard County MD between 3:27 PM EDT and 3:36 PM EDT, with a discontinuous
damage path of 5.5 miles, moving east-southeast at an estimated 40 mph.

This summary is based on a Storm Survey conducted Thursday evening by NWS
Baltimore/Washington Weather Forecast Office staff, and analysis from the
WSR-88D KLWX radar, and the FAA Terminal Doppler Weather Radars (TDWR) for
Dulles International Airport, Washington Reagan National Airport, and
Joint Base Andrews.  The FAA TDWR at Baltimore/Washington International
Thurgood Marshall Airport was out of service this day, thus it was not used
in operations.

The first evidence of tornadic damage was near the intersection of Brighton
Dam Road and MD Route 108 in Clarksville.  Several trees were uprooted in
this vicinity with large branches pulled towards each other, and fell in
multiple directions, except westerly.

As the tornado moved east, more convergent tree damage extended on either
side of Cedar Lane around Corina Court in Columbia.  One eyewitness in this
location who was interviewed saw the tornado knocking down trees, resulting
in swirling debris.  Most trees in this location were uprooted, but a few were
snapped.  Trees here were both softwood and hardwood. One tree fell into the
roof of a house.  Another resident in this area reported getting the wireless
emergency alert on their phone, followed moments later by strong winds, which
knocked down large trees.

Tree damage was also noted along Shaker Drive between Seneca Farm Road and
Wayover Way, where numerous large trees were uprooted, with a couple of trees
snapped, falling to the north.

The most significant damage noted was near the 9400 block of Patuxent Woods
Drive, where a grove of hardwood and softwood trees were snapped about midway
up their trunks, falling haphazardly.  The roof of a nearby office building
lost part of its roof, which blew towards the east.  Trees were down further
to the east, but it is likely that this was due to straight-line winds as
radar analysis showed the tornado vortex broadening rapidly.

There were other towns in Howard County in close proximity to the tornado
that experienced significant wind damage, including Savage and Highland.
However, from radar observations and conceptual models of tornadoes spawned
by quasi-linear convective systems, it was determined that the wind damage
in these locales were likely due to straight-line winds. Strong straight-
line winds can produce damage equivalent to EF0 and EF1 tornadoes.

The National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington Weather Forecast
Office would like to thank the Howard County Office of Emergency Management
for their assistance in the Storm Survey.

EF Scale: The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies tornadoes into the
following categories:

EF0...65 to 85 mph
EF1...86 to 110 mph
EF2...111 to 135 mph
EF3...136 to 165 mph
EF4...166 to 200 mph
EF5...>200 mph

* The information in this statement is preliminary and subject to
change pending final review of the event and publication in NWS
Storm Data.

$$

Lee/Hofmann

[AmericanWxFreak]

6 minutes ago, The Dude said:

 

It looks like the picture was taken from the roof of a parking garage at Columbia Mall:  https://www.google.com/maps/place/Columbia,+MD/@39.216361,-76.8613105,32a,35y,197.4h,78.81t/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x89b7dfb06369a051:0xf0d6bd65b687635d!8m2!3d39.2037144!4d-76.8610462

 

From this point, the two high rise buildings on the left of the picture would be almost due south, meaning the light on the left side of the picture would be coming from the clear skies to the east and south of the line of storms.   So, assuming he's using an extreme wide-angle (~10mm) lens, this picture certainly could be legit.

 

you are spot on. that is exactly where the photo was taken from. 

[Kmlwx]

5 hours ago, nw baltimore wx said:

By the way, I think the high rise in that photo is Kenny's Columbia apartment building.  He wasn't kidding yesterday when he said that the funnel went right over his house.  Unfortunately, he wasn't there yesterday. 

STALKER

I honestly wouldn't have recognized my building from a panoramic photo with that lighting. I would have killed to watch the storm from my building...work sucks

[Kmlwx]

Of note - the 12z CIPS analogs have a big signature for severe potential at the hour 132 mark 

[frd]

Interesting comment by HM about yesterday's severe event . I believe it is directed at his area,  but worth reading over regardless. 

 

 

 

 

[high risk]

            I think I'm going to have to eat some crow and acknowledge that the Columbia picture is legit, although I'm not going down without complaining about the panoramic distortion.

            Back to storm threats, I'm keeping an eye on late Sunday.     NAM nest is inconsistent with timing, but some cells may develop nearby on some sort of lee trough feature, and then a line may approach during the evening.    Deep layer shear (no directional shear, though) and instability would support some damaging wind threat.

   

  

[yoda]

4 hours ago, Kmlwx said:

Of note - the 12z CIPS analogs have a big signature for severe potential at the hour 132 mark 

I'd say... wow

[yoda]

Day 2 MRGL risk for the region 

[yoda]

1630 SPC day 1 OTLK has shifted SLGT to just NW of the i81 corridor and MRGL to i95 corridor