Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 722

October 11, 20029 counties in North Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 11, 2002, 3:35 PM EDT for 9 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Oct 11, 2002, 3:35 PM EDT (19:35 UTC)
Expired: Oct 11, 2002, 8:00 PM EDT
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Beaufort County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Craven County, NC, Dare County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Jones County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 43 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:36 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

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
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
Oct 11, 7:31 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Carteret	44 min

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 111935
SEL2  
SPC WW 111935
NCZ000-CWZ000-120000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 722
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
335 PM EDT FRI OCT 11 2002

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

   EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA                     
   COASTAL WATERS                     

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 335 PM UNTIL 800
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 35 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF
A LINE FROM 20 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF JACKSONVILLE NORTH CAROLINA
TO 40 MILES NORTH OF CAPE HATTERAS 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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH
NUMBER 721.  WATCH NUMBER 721 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 335 PM
EDT.

DISCUSSION...AS CIRCULATION OF KYLE CONTINUES TO MOVE NNE JUST OFF
NC COAST...FAVORABLE SHEAR PROFILES WILL BE MAINTAINED VICINITY NC
COAST FOR A FEW MORE HOURS. COUPLED WITH THE MOIST AND UNSTABLE
AIRMASS THIS AREA...ISOLATED TORNADIC SUPERCELLS WILL BE POSSIBLE
UNTIL AROUND SUNSET.


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 550. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 18025.


...HALES

345,0774 361,0755 352,0751 340,0770

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 11, 10:20 AM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland and 19 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in North 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.