Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

September 10, 2002Hyde County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at Sep 10, 2002, 11:45 AM EDT for Hyde County, North Carolina. It was in force for 30 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
Sep 10, 2002, 11:45 AM EDT (15:45 UTC)
Expired
Sep 10, 2002, 12:15 PM EDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Hyde County, NC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 97 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:47 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
Sep 10, 12:05 PM EDTTornado F0Ocracoke, NCThe North Carolina Ferry Division reported a waterspout that moved onshore in Silver Lake in Ocracoke. Only minor roof damage to a couple of buildings was reported.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Sep 10, 7:55 AM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 97 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 2002-09-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1044 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 2002-09-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 88 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
1044 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
493 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
79 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.

823 
WFUS52 KMHX 101545
TORMHX
NCC095-101615-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUIRED
TORNADO WARNING...FOR TORNADO APPROACHING OCRACOKE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT-MOREHEAD CITY NC
1146 AM EDT TUE SEP 10 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  OUTER BANKS HYDE COUNTY IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 1215 PM EDT

* AT 1145 AM EDT...LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED A TORNADO 20 MILES
  NORTHEAST OF OCRACOKE...OR ABOUT OVER HATTERAS VILLAGE...MOVING
  SOUTHWEST AT 40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
   OCRACOKE AT 1210 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.

$$

LAT...LON 3515 7554 3532 7561 3518 7621 3497 7612

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.