Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2002
Tornado Watch 178
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 28, 2002, 6:45 PM EDT for 35 counties in North Carolina; City of Danville, Virginia. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 28, 2002, 6:45 PM EDT (22:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 28, 2002, 10:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 36 counties
Alamance County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Camden County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Durham County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Gates County, NC, Granville County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Martin County, NC, Nash County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Orange County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Person County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Stokes County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wilson County, NC, City of Danville, VA
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:48 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.
Warnings issued inside it
9 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 6:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Caswell | 30 min |
| Apr 28, 6:53 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Person | 27 min |
| Apr 28, 7:17 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Granville, Person | 18 min |
| Apr 28, 7:56 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Northampton | 29 min |
| Apr 28, 8:20 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Hertford, Northampton | 45 min |
| Apr 28, 8:23 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Gates | 32 min |
| Apr 28, 9:01 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Pasquotank, Perquimans | 44 min |
| Apr 28, 9:12 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Chowan | 28 min |
| Apr 28, 9:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Dare, Tyrrell | 53 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 135 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
- 23 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -137 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 464 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 268 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 294 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WWUS20 KWNS 282234 SEL8 SPC WW 282229 NCZ000-CWZ000-290200- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 178 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 629 PM EDT SUN APR 28 2002 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN NORTH CAROLINA AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 645 PM UNTIL 1000 PM EDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 35 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES WEST OF GREENSBORO NORTH CAROLINA TO 45 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF ELIZABETH CITY NORTH CAROLINA. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. OTHER WATCH INFORMATION... CONTINUE...WW 171...WW 172...WW 173...WW 174...WW 175...WW 176...WW 177... DISCUSSION...SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN VA AND NORTHWEST NC WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK EAST-SOUTHEASTWARD FOR A FEW MORE HOURS. AIRMASS IN THIS REGION IS MODERATELY UNSTABLE...BUT VERY HIGHLY SHEARED. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS SHOULD BE THE PRIMARY THREAT...BUT ISOLATED TORNADO THREAT REMAINS SUFFICIENT TO WARRANT A TORNADO WATCH. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035. ...HART 363,0802 363,0752 353,0752 353,0802
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 2:15 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Macon, Madison and 1 more | 5 hr |
| Apr 28, 5:00 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alexander, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell and 27 more | 5 hr |
| Apr 28, 1:30 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bland, Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott and 6 more | 4 hr |
| Apr 28, 3:30 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Albemarle, Alleghany, Amherst, Appomattox, Arlington, Augusta and 66 more | 6 hr |
| Apr 28, 5:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bland, Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott and 5 more | 4 hr |
| Apr 28, 5:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bland, Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott and 5 more | 4 hr |
| Apr 28, 6:00 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Accomack, Brunswick, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Essex and 39 more | 4 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2002Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2002Every tornado watch 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.