Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 31, 2003Chatham County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at May 31, 2003, 5:51 PM EDT for Chatham County, North Carolina. It was in force for 39 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 31, 2003, 5:51 PM EDT (21:51 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 2003, 6:30 PM EDT
In force: 39 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Chatham County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 69 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:52 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 31, 2:05 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 69 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1484 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 157 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 166 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.

309 
WFUS52 KRAH 312151
TORRAH
NCC037-312230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
551 PM EDT SAT MAY 31 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 630 PM EDT

* AT 551 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 19 MILES WEST OF BYNUM...OR ABOUT 10 MILES NORTH OF SILER
  CITY...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  PITTSBORO AND BYNUM AROUND 615 PM
  JORDAN LAKE AROUND 625 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.

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 800 PM EDT SATURDAY EVENING 
FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA.

LAT...LON 3586 7925 3584 7952 3560 7921 3572 7896

$$

DGS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 31, 12:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Harnett, Moore	34 min
May 31, 1:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Lee	21 min
May 31, 1:55 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Anson	50 min
May 31, 2:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Harnett	34 min
May 31, 3:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Scotland	14 min
May 31, 4:22 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Anson	53 min
May 31, 4:32 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Anson	43 min
May 31, 5:03 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Guilford	27 min
May 31, 5:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Alamance, Chatham	41 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.