Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 3, 2003Scotland County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at May 3, 2003, 6:40 PM EDT for Scotland County, North Carolina. It was in force for 35 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 3, 2003, 6:40 PM EDT (22:40 UTC)
Expired: May 3, 2003, 7:15 PM EDT
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Scotland County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 131 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:42 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 3, 6:40 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 142 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: 3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -94 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1075 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 141 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.

196 
WFUS52 KRAH 032240
TORRAH
NCC165-032315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
640 PM EDT SAT MAY 3 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SCOTLAND COUNTY IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 715 PM EDT

* AT 640 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER LAUREL HILL...OR ABOUT 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  LAURINBURG...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
  WAGRAM
  LAURINBURG

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE
BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE
BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM
WINDOWS.

LAT...LON 3474 7939 3478 7962 3484 7962 3489 7956
          3495 7958 3494 7936 3474 7936 3478 7962
          3484 7962 3489 7956 3495 7958 3494 7936
          3474 7936

$$

14/12

The office that day

Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 2, 8:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Person	24 min
May 3, 4:51 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Forsyth	24 min
May 3, 5:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Davidson	40 min
May 3, 5:21 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Davidson	24 min
May 3, 5:44 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Davidson	16 min
May 3, 5:46 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Randolph	44 min
May 3, 5:58 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Richmond	47 min
May 3, 6:01 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Davidson	14 min
May 3, 6:15 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Davidson	30 min
May 3, 6:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Stanly	25 min
May 3, 6:22 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Scotland	23 min
May 3, 6:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Montgomery	49 min
May 3, 6:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Stanly	23 min
May 3, 7:00 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Montgomery	45 min
May 3, 7:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Scotland	30 min
May 3, 7:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Stanly	41 min
May 3, 7:39 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Richmond	51 min
May 3, 7:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Anson	49 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.