Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Wakefield, VA

April 28, 2002Chowan County, North Carolina

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at Apr 28, 2002, 9:12 PM EDT for Chowan County, North Carolina. It was in force for 28 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 28, 2002, 9:12 PM EDT (01:12 UTC)
Expired
Apr 28, 2002, 9:40 PM EDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Chowan County, NC

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:14 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 28, 6:45 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC3 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 152 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Newport, NC at 00:00Z on 2002-04-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1496 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Newport, NC at 00:00Z on 2002-04-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 288 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
1496 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-79 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
904 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
288 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
383 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.8
Supercell composite
12.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

337 
WFUS51 KAKQ 290112
TORAKQ
NCC041-290140-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
911 PM EDT SUN APR 28 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WAKEFIELD HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CHOWAN COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 940 PM EDT

* AT 911 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  ARROWHEAD BEACH...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE STORM PRODUCING THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR
  ARROWHEAD BEACH AT 915 PM
  MILL CROSSROADS AND SMALLS CROSSROADS AT 920 PM
  CISCO AND MAVATON AT 925 PM

GO TO A BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.

$$

HURLEY

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wakefield, VA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 28, 8:20 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQHertford, Northampton45 min
Apr 28, 8:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQGates32 min
Apr 28, 9:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQPasquotank, Perquimans44 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes in 2002

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.