Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2002
Tornado Watch 679
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 10, 2002, 7:55 AM EDT for 23 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 10, 2002, 7:55 AM EDT (11:55 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 10, 2002, 2:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 23 counties
Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Camden County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Craven County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Greene County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Pender County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC
The radar
The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:55 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
1 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 10, 11:45 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Hyde | 30 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 00:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 54 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
- 597 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 557 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 21 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 221 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 297 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WWUS20 KWNS 101156 SEL9 SPC WW 101155 NCZ000-CWZ000-101800- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 679 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 755 AM EDT TUE SEP 10 2002 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 755 AM UNTIL 200 PM EDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES SOUTHEAST OF JACKSONVILLE NORTH CAROLINA TO 10 MILES NORTH 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. DISCUSSION...OUTER BANDS OF SUBTROPICAL STORM GUSTAV ARE NOW MOVING OVER AREAS OF ERN NC AND THE OUTER BANKS. STORM ENVIRONMENT SHOWS MUCAPE AROUND 1500 J/KG OF MUCAPE WITH 0-1KM HELICITY OF 100-200 M2/S2. THUS...SOME STORMS WITHIN THESE BANDS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO ROTATE AND PRODUCE BRIEF TORNADOES. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH...EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 06035. ...MCCARTHY 342,0781 362,0772 362,0750 342,0760
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 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.