Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 21, 2000Sampson County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at May 21, 2000, 7:54 PM EDT for Sampson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 36 min. 1 report 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, 7:54 PM EDT (23:54 UTC)
Expired: May 21, 2000, 8:30 PM EDT
In force: 36 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Sampson County, NC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:56 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 was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 21, 8:20 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Harrells, NC	Trees blown down onto homes, cars, and powerlines throughout the town.

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, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 134 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.

648 
WFUS52 KRAH 212355
TORRDU
NCC163-220030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
754 PM EDT SUN MAY 21 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN SAMPSON COUNTY IN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 830 PM EDT

* AT 754 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER GARLAND...OR ABOUT 17 MILES SOUTH OF CLINTON...MOVING
  EAST AT 15 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
  GARLAND
  HARRELLS

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE
BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE
BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM
WINDOWS.

LAT...LON 3485 7849 3467 7847 3464 7821 3489 7808

The office that day

Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 20, 8:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Alamance, Durham, Orange	36 min
May 20, 8:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Franklin, Granville, Wake	47 min
May 20, 8:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Durham	47 min
May 20, 9:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Warren	22 min
May 20, 9:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Halifax	33 min
May 20, 9:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Warren	31 min
May 20, 10:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Edgecombe	34 min
May 20, 10:44 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Edgecombe	21 min
May 21, 1:36 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Johnston, Wilson	24 min
May 21, 4:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Harnett	35 min
May 21, 4:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Cumberland, Harnett	42 min
May 21, 5:03 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Sampson	42 min
May 21, 5:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Scotland	43 min
May 21, 6:35 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Montgomery, Moore	40 min
May 21, 7:01 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Randolph	44 min
May 21, 7:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Chatham	41 min
May 21, 7:46 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Sampson	44 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.