Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

May 9, 2003Washington County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at May 9, 2003, 6:29 PM EDT for Washington County, North Carolina. It was in force for 31 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, 6:29 PM EDT (22:29 UTC)
Expired: May 9, 2003, 7:00 PM EDT
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Washington County, NC

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 127 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:28 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, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 128 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.

000 
WFUS52 KMHX 092229
TORMHX
NCC187-092300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
629 PM EDT FRI MAY 9 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT
HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 700 PM EDT

* AT 629 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER PLEASANT GROVE...OR ABOUT 6 MILES SOUTH OF EDENTON...
  MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  PLEASANT GROVE AROUND 635 PM EDT
  ROPER AROUND 640 PM EDT
  PHELPS LAKE AROUND 655 PM EDT

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 3609 7658 3600 7678 3578 7668 3571 7657
          3575 7641 3588 7639

20

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 9, 4:16 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	MHX		44 min
May 9, 4:16 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	MHX		44 min
May 9, 4:48 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Dare	12 min
May 9, 5:03 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	MHX		57 min
May 9, 5:59 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	MHX		31 min
May 9, 6:08 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Washington	37 min
May 9, 6:55 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Tyrrell	35 min
May 9, 6:59 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Hyde	31 min
May 9, 7:28 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	MHX		32 min
May 9, 7:32 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Hyde	13 min
May 9, 7:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Beaufort, Pamlico	41 min
May 9, 7:53 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Hyde	22 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.