Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003
Tornado Warning 7, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at May 3, 2003, 5:21 PM EDT for Davidson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 24 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, 5:21 PM EDT (21:21 UTC)
- Expired
- May 3, 2003, 5:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 24 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Davidson County, NC
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 142 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:17 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 3, 3:20 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 47 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -94 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1075 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -29 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 141 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
828 WFUS52 KRAH 032121 TORRAH NCC057-032145- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 520 PM EDT SAT MAY 3 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN DAVIDSON COUNTY IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 545 PM EDT * AT 520 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 4 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LEXINGTON...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. * SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE... GORDONTOWN 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 3587 8033 3571 8043 3553 8007 3574 7994 $$ 12
The office that day
Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 8:21 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Person | 24 min |
| May 3, 4:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Forsyth | 24 min |
| May 3, 5:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Davidson | 40 min |
| May 3, 5:44 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Davidson | 16 min |
| May 3, 5:46 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Randolph | 44 min |
| May 3, 5:58 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Richmond | 47 min |
| May 3, 6:01 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Davidson | 14 min |
| May 3, 6:15 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Davidson | 30 min |
| May 3, 6:20 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Stanly | 25 min |
| May 3, 6:22 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Scotland | 23 min |
| May 3, 6:26 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Montgomery | 49 min |
| May 3, 6:40 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Scotland | 35 min |
| May 3, 6:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Stanly | 23 min |
| May 3, 7:00 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Montgomery | 45 min |
| May 3, 7:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Scotland | 30 min |
| May 3, 7:34 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Stanly | 41 min |
| May 3, 7:39 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Richmond | 51 min |
| May 3, 7:56 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Anson | 49 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 2003Every tornado warning in 2003Tornadoes 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.