Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 511

July 4, 200114 counties in North Carolina; 10 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jul 4, 2001, 7:30 PM EDT for 14 counties in North Carolina; 10 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jul 4, 2001, 7:30 PM EDT (23:30 UTC)
Expired: Jul 5, 2001, 1:00 AM EDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 24 counties

Anson County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Gaston County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Lee County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Union County, NC, Anderson County, SC, Cherokee County, SC, Chester County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC, Union County, SC, York County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:33 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.

Warnings issued inside it

2 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 4, 7:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Anderson	45 min
Jul 4, 10:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Fairfield, Kershaw	56 min

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 172 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: 509 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -81 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 674 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 27 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.

583 
WWUS9 KMKC 042320
SEL1  

SEL1  
MKC WW 042315
NCZ000-SCZ000-050500-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 511
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
715 PM EDT WED JUL 4 2001

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   SOUTHERN NORTH CAROLINA                     
   NORTHERN SOUTH CAROLINA                     

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FROM 730 PM
UNTIL 100 AM EDT.

HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70
MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 80 STATUTE MILES
EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF
SPARTANBURG SOUTH CAROLINA TO 35 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF SOUTHERN
PINES NORTH CAROLINA.

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
TORNADOES.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 506...WW 507...WW
508...WW 509...WW 510...

DISCUSSION...NUMEROUS STRONG/SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO
DEVELOP EAST-SOUTHEASTWARD INTO PARTS OF CENTRAL NC AND NORTHERN
SC.  ALTHOUGH MID LEVEL WINDS ARE RATHER WEAK IN THIS AREA...VERY
UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL ENHANCE UPDRAFTS AND AID THREAT OF LOCALLY
DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL IN STRONGER CELLS.

AVIATION...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT
TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60
KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.  MEAN STORM
MOTION VECTOR 24020.

...HART

342,0830 354,0810 354,0781 342,0801

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 4, 1:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Caldwell, Mitchell, Watauga and 1 more	5 hr
Jul 4, 1:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Caldwell, Mitchell, Watauga and 1 more	5 hr
Jul 4, 4:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham and 10 more	6 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Carolina, 2001 Severe Thunderstorm Watches in South Carolina, 2001 Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2001

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.