Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 3, 2003Richmond County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at May 3, 2003, 8:10 PM EDT for Richmond 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, 8:10 PM EDT (00:10 UTC)
Expired: May 3, 2003, 8:45 PM EDT
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Richmond County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 130 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:14 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 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 127 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: 280 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -82 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 859 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 171 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 274 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

069 
WFUS52 KRAH 040010
TORRAH
NCC153-040045-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 845 PM EDT

* AT 810 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER ELLERBE...OR ABOUT 7 MILES NORTHEAST OF ROCKINGHAM...
  MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
  RURAL EASTERN RICHMOND COUNTY
  RURAL SOUTHEASTERN RICHMOND COUNTY

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 3485 7962 3500 7980 3513 7968 3503 7950
          3495 7959 3489 7958

$$

12

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 8:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Scotland	57 min
May 3, 8:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Richmond	26 min
May 3, 9:14 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Richmond	31 min
May 3, 9:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Hoke, Scotland	47 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.