Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 721

October 11, 200225 counties in North Carolina; 9 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 11, 2002, 10:20 AM EDT for 25 counties in North Carolina; 9 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Oct 11, 2002, 10:20 AM EDT (14:20 UTC)
Expired: Oct 11, 2002, 4:00 PM EDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 34 counties

Beaufort County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Craven County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Greene County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Nash County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pender County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Florence County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Horry County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:21 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

7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 11, 12:58 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Pitt	32 min
Oct 11, 1:13 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Edgecombe	47 min
Oct 11, 1:14 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Georgetown	31 min
Oct 11, 1:14 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Georgetown	31 min
Oct 11, 1:50 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Franklin, Johnston, Wake	2 hr
Oct 11, 2:05 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Wilson	40 min
Oct 11, 3:48 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	MHX	Martin, Pitt	3 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 184 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.

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 111417
SEL1  
SPC WW 111420
NCZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-112000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 721
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1020 AM EDT FRI OCT 11 2002

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA                     
   EASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA                     
   COASTAL WATERS                     

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 1020 AM UNTIL 400
PM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO
70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 55 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF
A LINE FROM 50 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF MYRTLE BEACH SOUTH CAROLINA
TO 40 MILES EAST OF ROCKY MOUNT 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...T.S. KYLE MOVING NNEWD VICINITY SC CAROLINA COAST
PRECEEDED BY VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS INTO ERN NC.  VEERING
SHEAR PROFILES AHEAD OF KYLE FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELLS AND ISOLATED
TORNADOES GIVEN ML CAPES ABOVE 2000 J/KG.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH...EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 600. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 18020.


...HALES

335,0802 362,0775 351,0763 324,0790

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 11, 3:35 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Dare, Hyde, Jones and 3 more	4 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2002 Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2002 Every 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.