Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

May 21, 2000Jones County, Onslow County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at May 21, 2000, 6:24 PM EDT for Jones County, Onslow County, North Carolina. It was in force for 51 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 21, 2000, 6:24 PM EDT (22:24 UTC)
Expired: May 21, 2000, 7:15 PM EDT
In force: 51 min
Issued by: NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Jones County, NC, Onslow County, NC

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 21, 6:33 PM EDT	Tornado F0	Catherine Lake, NC	A tornado touched down in western Onslow county near Ellis Airport and tracked northeast through the woods for 1 mile. The tornado was tracked by a trained spotter until it dissipated.
May 21, 6:36 PM EDT	Hail 2.5	Comfort, NC

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 64 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 2111 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 104 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 92 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

109 
WFUS52 KMHX 212225
TORMHX
NCC103-133-212315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT-MOREHEAD CITY NC
624 PM EDT SUN MAY 21 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN ONSLOW COUNTY IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
  JONES COUNTY IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 715 PM EDT

* AT 624 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF RICHLANDS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
   RICHLANDS AT 630 PM EDT.
   COMFORT AT 645 PM EDT.
   TRENTON AT 705 PM EDT.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

PLEASE REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR RELAY TO
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

NNNN

LAT...LON 3490 7775 3477 7760 3502 7722 3519 7741

The office that day

Everything else NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 20, 10:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Martin, Washington	45 min
May 20, 10:55 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Pitt	50 min
May 21, 4:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Craven	39 min
May 21, 4:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Pamlico	42 min
May 21, 4:58 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Pamlico	32 min
May 21, 5:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Lenoir	36 min
May 21, 5:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Jones	29 min
May 21, 5:40 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Duplin	35 min
May 21, 5:54 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Craven	36 min
May 21, 6:01 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Duplin	29 min
May 21, 6:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Lenoir	49 min
May 21, 6:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Pamlico	45 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 2000 Every tornado warning in 2000 Tornadoes in 2000

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.