Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2002
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at May 13, 2002, 9:06 PM EDT for Martin County, North Carolina. It was in force for 24 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- May 13, 2002, 9:06 PM EDT (01:06 UTC)
- Expired
- May 13, 2002, 9:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 24 min
- Issued by
- NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Martin County, NC
The radar
The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 120 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:09 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 13, 9:18 PM EDT | Hail 1.75 | Robersonville, NC | |
| May 13, 9:25 PM EDT | Tornado F0 | Williamston, NC | An F0 tornado touched down in Williamston destroying a car wash, one vehicle and causing minor damage to numerous homes. |
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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 13, 6:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 120 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 188 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -137 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1047 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 177 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 195 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 1.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS52 KMHX 140106 TORMHX NCC117-140130- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUIRED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT-MOREHEAD CITY NC 906 PM EDT MON MAY 13 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... MARTIN COUNTY IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 930 PM EDT * AT 906 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO OVER ROBERSONVILLE...OR ABOUT 13 MILES NORTH OF GREENVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH. * THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR... BEARGRASS...AND...EVERETTS AT 915 PM EDT. WILLIAMSTON AT 920 PM EDT. JAMESVILLE AT 930 PM EDT. THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET OR BATHROOM. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO...OR TELEVISION FOR THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER INFORMATION. $$ 14
The office that day
Everything else NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 13, 8:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Lenoir | 54 min |
| May 13, 8:53 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Greene, Martin, Pitt | 37 min |
| May 13, 9:01 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Duplin | 59 min |
| May 13, 9:16 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Beaufort | 44 min |
| May 13, 9:29 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | MHX | 61 min | |
| May 13, 9:32 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Washington | 58 min |
| May 13, 9:39 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Craven, Jones | 51 min |
| May 13, 9:40 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Lenoir | 20 min |
| May 13, 10:22 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Onslow | 23 min |
| May 13, 10:39 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | MHX | 66 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.