Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

October 11, 2002Carteret County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at Oct 11, 2002, 7:31 PM EDT for Carteret County, North Carolina. It was in force for 44 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: Oct 11, 2002, 7:31 PM EDT (23:31 UTC)
Expired: Oct 11, 2002, 8:15 PM EDT
In force: 44 min
Issued by: NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Carteret County, NC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 33 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Oct 11, 7:40 PM EDT	Tornado F0	Atlantic, NC	Weak tornado touched down in unpopulated area of Atlantic with no injuries or damage.

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
Oct 11, 3:35 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 33 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: 1084 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 539 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 106 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 188 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.7
Supercell composite: 4.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

663 
WFUS52 KMHX 112331
TORMHX
NCC031-120015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUIRED
TORNADO WARNING...FOR TORNADO APPROACHING CEDAR ISLAND
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT-MOREHEAD CITY NC
731 PM EDT FRI OCT 11 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CARTERET COUNTY IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 815 PM EDT

* AT 731 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER SEA LEVEL...OR ABOUT 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CEDAR
  ISLAND...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
   CEDAR ISLAND AT 745 PM EDT.

 OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE ATLANTIC AND STACY

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 3493 7654 3479 7641 3501 7603 3518 7620

17

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 11, 12:58 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Pitt	32 min
Oct 11, 1:53 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Martin	37 min
Oct 11, 3:48 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	MHX	Martin, Pitt	3 hr
Oct 11, 4:19 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	MHX	Greene	2 hr
Oct 11, 5:21 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Beaufort	24 min
Oct 11, 6:31 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	MHX	Carteret	59 min

Nearby

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