Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 10, 2003Vance County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at May 10, 2003, 5:29 PM EDT for Vance County, North Carolina. It was in force for 46 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 10, 2003, 5:29 PM EDT (21:29 UTC)
Expired: May 10, 2003, 6:15 PM EDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Vance County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:32 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 10, 3:15 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 125 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: 1311 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 674 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 115 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.7
Supercell composite: 2.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

509 
WFUS52 KRAH 102129
TORRAH
NCC181-102215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
529 PM EDT SAT MAY 10 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN VANCE COUNTY IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 615 PM EDT

* AT 529 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER TUNGSTEN...OR ABOUT 13 MILES NORTHWEST OF HENDERSON...
  MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  TUNGSTEN AROUND 535 PM
  BULLOCKSVILLE AND KERR LAKE AROUND 555 PM
  MIDDLEBURG AROUND 605 PM

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.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND ASK
THEM TO RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE IN RALEIGH.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT SATURDAY EVENING
FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA.

LAT...LON 3655 7851 3639 7852 3633 7830 3655 7831

$$

DGS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 9, 8:14 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Edgecombe	16 min
May 9, 8:17 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Edgecombe	13 min
May 10, 12:56 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Granville, Person	79 min
May 10, 4:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Granville, Vance	40 min
May 10, 5:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Warren	56 min
May 10, 6:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Granville, Vance	29 min
May 10, 6:37 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Halifax, Nash	53 min
May 10, 6:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Person	30 min
May 10, 6:58 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Vance	32 min
May 10, 7:08 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Edgecombe, Halifax	67 min
May 10, 7:17 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Granville	43 min
May 10, 7:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Warren	36 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.