Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

August 26, 2002Dare County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at Aug 26, 2002, 8:58 AM EDT for Dare County, North Carolina. It was in force for 32 min. 1 report 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
Aug 26, 2002, 8:58 AM EDT (12:58 UTC)
Expired
Aug 26, 2002, 9:30 AM EDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Dare County, NC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 150 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:58 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 26, 9:05 AM EDTTornado F0Avon, NCA weak short lived tornado moved onshore the Outer Banks near Avon causing roof and porch damage to several 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 nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 150 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 12:00Z on 2002-08-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 327 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2002-08-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 31 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
327 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-27 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
517 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
55 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.

396 
WFUS52 KMHX 261258
TORMHX
NCC055-261330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUIRED
TORNADO WARNING AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT-MOREHEAD CITY NC
856 AM EDT MON AUG 26 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING FOR...
  OUTER BANKS DARE COUNTY IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 930 AM EDT

* AT 856 AM EDT...THE PUBLIC REPORTED A WATERSPOUNT ONE AND ONE-HALF
MILES EAST OF AVON...OR ABOUT   8 MILES NORTHEAST OF BUXTON...MOVING 
WEST AT 25 MPH.

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.

MARINERS SHOULD SEEK SAFE HARBOR AND AVOID THE WATERSPOUT.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO...OR TELEVISION FOR
THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER INFORMATION.

$$

LAT...LON 3535 7555 3523 7540 3547 7506 3563 7525

2/12

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 26, 1:54 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningMHX36 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.