Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Wakefield, VA

May 9, 2003Hertford County, Northampton County, North Carolina

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at May 9, 2003, 4:57 PM EDT for Hertford County, Northampton County, North Carolina. It was in force for 38 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 9, 2003, 4:57 PM EDT (20:57 UTC)
Expired: May 9, 2003, 5:35 PM EDT
In force: 38 min
Issued by: NWS Wakefield, VA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Hertford County, NC, Northampton County, NC

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:59 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 9, 4:15 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 177 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: 1522 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1058 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 86 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

586 
WFUS51 KAKQ 092057
TORAKQ
NCC091-131-092135-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
456 PM EDT FRI MAY 9 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WAKEFIELD HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  HERTFORD COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
  NORTHAMPTON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 535 PM EDT

* AT 456 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 12 MILES NORTHWEST     
  OF SEVERN...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE STORM PRODUCING THE POSSIBLE TORNADO WILL REACH...
  SEVERN AROUND 510 PM,
  PENDLETON AND CONWAY AROUND 515 PM,
  MURFREESBORO AND BARRETTS CROSSROADS AROUND 520 PM,
  MAPLETON AROUND 525 PM,
  UNION AND POOR TOWN AROUND 530 PM,
  AHOSKIE AND BRANTLEYS GROVE AROUND 535 PM.

TAKE COVER IN A BASEMENT OR AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.
VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED FOR STURDIER SHELTER.

LAT...LON 3628 7678 3654 7704 3654 7732 3623 7696
$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wakefield, VA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 9, 5:33 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Bertie	42 min
May 9, 5:42 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	AKQ	Chowan	38 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes in 2003

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.