Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

February 22, 2003Onslow County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at Feb 22, 2003, 5:33 PM EST for Onslow County, North Carolina. It was in force for 27 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
Feb 22, 2003, 5:33 PM EST (22:33 UTC)
Expired
Feb 22, 2003, 6:00 PM EST
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Onslow County, NC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 37 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:35 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Feb 22, 2:40 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 37 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2003-02-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 707 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2003-02-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 190 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
707 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
545 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
190 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
257 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

524 
WFUS52 KMHX 222233
TORMHX
NCC133-222300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
533 PM EST SAT FEB 22 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT
HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ONSLOW COUNTY IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 600 PM EST

* AT 533 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER PINEY GREEN...OR ABOUT 6 MILES EAST OF JACKSONVILLE...
  MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
 6 MILES NORTH OF SWANSBORO AROUND 540 PM EST

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER
ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET OR BATHROOM. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR
BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO...OR TELEVISION FOR
THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER INFORMATION.

LAT...LON 3483 7740 3465 7735 3468 7712 3483 7715

3

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 22, 3:25 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXDuplin50 min
Feb 22, 3:53 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXGreene, Hertford37 min
Feb 22, 4:16 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXPitt29 min
Feb 22, 4:38 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXBeaufort, Craven, Jones37 min
Feb 22, 4:53 PM ESTSpecial Marine WarningMHX67 min
Feb 22, 4:58 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXOnslow32 min
Feb 22, 5:47 PM ESTSpecial Marine WarningMHX58 min
Feb 22, 5:55 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXCarteret, Craven, Pamlico35 min
Feb 22, 6:06 PM ESTTornado WarningMHXPamlico9 min
Feb 22, 6:21 PM ESTSpecial Marine WarningMHX54 min
Feb 22, 6:43 PM ESTSpecial Marine WarningMHX92 min
Feb 22, 6:43 PM ESTSpecial Marine WarningMHX92 min

Nearby

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