Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Raleigh, NC

July 2, 2003Sampson County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Jul 2, 2003, 5:20 PM EDT for Sampson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 40 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: Jul 2, 2003, 5:20 PM EDT (21:20 UTC)
Expired: Jul 2, 2003, 6:00 PM EDT
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Sampson County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 63 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:22 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
Jul 2, 2:55 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1421 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 199 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 341 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.

547 
WFUS52 KRAH 022120
TORRAH
NCC163-022200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
520 PM EDT WED JUL 2 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 600 PM EDT

* AT 520 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 5 MILES WEST OF SALEMBURG...OR ABOUT 15 MILES WEST OF
  CLINTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  SALEMBURG AROUND 525 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 800 PM EDT WEDNESDAY EVENING
FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA.

LAT...LON 3508 7872 3492 7860 3512 7814 3528 7828

$$
DGS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 2, 1:29 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Moore	46 min
Jul 2, 2:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Hoke, Scotland	30 min
Jul 2, 2:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Harnett, Lee	41 min
Jul 2, 3:14 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Harnett	31 min
Jul 2, 4:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Johnston	44 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.