tornado update from Mid Atlantic, 50 tornado reports so far.

[WXBUFFJIM]

The preliminary count so far today is up to 50 tornadoes in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and into parts of North Carolina. While some of those tornado reports maybe duplicates of the same tornado, we must keep in mind that this region of the country does not see as many tornadoes as folks back in the Midwest experience. At this hour Severe thunderstorms are ongoing with tornadoes indicated by doppler radar from Charles County, MD up to Prince Georges County, MD. Numerous multiple tornadoes have been reported with storms today from near Dulles Airport where NWS employees at the National Weather Service in Sterling observed 2 tornadoes in one storm. That same supercell produced 2 tornadoes near Fredrick, MD earlier this evening.

Dangerous tornadoes are possible until midnight tonight, hence a tornado watch for parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. We're in the middle of a huge tornado outbreak with scores of tornadoes. While we have been getting more doppler indicated tornadoes as of late, this is still a very dangerous situation as se winds at 10-20 mph are combining with south winds at 10000 feet up to 60-70 mph. This is causing any supercells that do develop in strong instability to develop rotation and go tornadic. It is also dark. Hence do not wait until you see the tornado coming because it's dark and you might not see it coming. Also tornadoes in tropical cyclones are occasionally wrapped in rain with the deep tropical moisture involved. This is vry dangerous situation this evening for folks in the Washington and Baltimore area. Take action if a tornado warning is issued for your area.

The tornado count right now from Ivan is up to 100 preliminarily and that number will definitely most likely rise. It's 2nd all time for tornadoes in Tropical Cyclones. However I must stress that the 100 tornado reports is just a preliminary number as some of the tornadoes we're seeing are most likely duplicates of the same tornado path. Future surveys later will determine a more exact number of tornadoes.

Jim

[Scott_inVA]

Had an enjoyable afternoon and evening out chasing today in Virginia (which is why there were no model map updates). Lucky me, I chased nothing but warnings Went to 2 as directed by NWS and both TORs had great rotation but nothing spun down/

This was the *best* low-mid level rotation I've seen since the 02 outbreak in Virginia that yielded the LaPlata, MD tornado in 04/02. Today's outbreak...far more than anticipated (as opposed to very little rain, also unexpected)...confined to a strong feeder band and some Supercells. Normally those are easy to track and chase but at 45MPH and short-lived mostly F-0 and F-1 and rain shrouded, it was tough going.

Heard on SkyWARN repeater the TOR that crossed I-95 was showing unofficial F3 damage.

Wild day. Expected to awake to massive flooding...got 0.69" rain and one of the biggest tornado outbreaks in Virginia history.

Go figure.

Scott
Mid-Atlantic WX.com
Lexington, VA