Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 9, 2003Warren County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at May 9, 2003, 6:17 PM EDT for Warren County, North Carolina. It was in force for 28 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, 6:17 PM EDT (22:17 UTC)
Expired: May 9, 2003, 6:45 PM EDT
In force: 28 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Warren County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 80 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:17 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

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 151 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: 59 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -186 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 982 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 153 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 199 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

957 
WFUS52 KRAH 092217
TORRAH
NCC185-092245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
616 PM EDT FRI MAY 9 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN WARREN COUNTY IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 645 PM EDT

* AT 616 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF AFTON...OR ABOUT 7 MILES NORTHEAST OF
  HENDERSON...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
  AFTON
  VICKSBORO
  ELBERTON

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.

IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT OF A TORNADO...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND DEADLY LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS
STORM. GO TO A SAFE PLACE NOW

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM EDT FRIDAY EVENING
FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA.

LAT...LON 3644 7828 3637 7829 3626 7828 3621 7801
          3634 7794

$$

DGS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 9, 5:23 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Granville, Vance	37 min
May 9, 5:39 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Granville, Vance	36 min
May 9, 6:14 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Vance	31 min
May 9, 6:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Granville	25 min
May 9, 6:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Franklin	31 min
May 9, 6:39 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Vance	21 min
May 9, 6:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Nash	38 min
May 9, 6:58 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Franklin, Vance	32 min
May 9, 7:07 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Nash	38 min
May 9, 7:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Edgecombe	54 min
May 9, 7:44 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Nash	16 min
May 9, 7:53 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Wilson	37 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.