Alert archive / North Carolina / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003
Mesoscale Discussion 129
The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Feb 22, 2003, 11:47 AM EST for 39 counties in North Carolina; 8 counties in South Carolina; 31 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 88 min.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 22, 2003, 11:47 AM EST (16:47 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 22, 2003, 1:15 PM EST
- In force
- 88 min
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 78 counties
Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Camden County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Craven County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Gates County, NC, Greene County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lee County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, Nash County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Pender County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Florence County, SC, Horry County, SC, Lee County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Accomack County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, Charles City County, VA, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Hampton, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Newport News, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Poquoson, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, City of Williamsburg, VA, Gloucester County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, James City County, VA, Lancaster County, VA, Mathews County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Northampton County, VA, Northumberland County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, York County, VA
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:50 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 watches that followed
Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.
The nearest sounding before it
Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 153 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
- 707 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -28 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 545 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 190 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 257 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 4.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
817 ACUS11 KWNS 221647 SWOMCD SPC MCD 221647 NCZ000-SCZ000-VAZ000-221815- MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0129 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 1047 AM CST SAT FEB 22 2003 AREAS AFFECTED...CNTRL/ERN NC AND SC...SE VA CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 19... VALID 221647Z - 221815Z DAMAGING WIND THREAT IS INCREASING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN MID ATLANTIC COAST REGION...INCLUDING PARTS OF SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA AND THE SOUTHERN DELMARVA...WHERE TRENDS ARE BEING MONITORED FOR POSSIBILITY OF NEW WW. SURFACE TEMPERATURES HAVE WARMED INTO THE LOWER/MID 70S ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL/EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA...SOUTH OF WARM FRONT WHICH IS LIFTING NORTHWARD TOWARD THE NORFOLK VIRGINIA AREA. FRONTAL ZONE WILL REMAIN QUASISTATIONARY WEST/NORTHWEST OF THE RALEIGH AREA INTO THE MOUNTAINS OF SOUTH CAROLINA...WHERE DAMAGING WIND THREAT HAS DIMINISHED IN WAKE OF SQUALL LINE. AS LOW-LEVEL JET AXIS WITH CORE OF STRONGEST WINDS SHIFTS INTO AREAS ALONG/EAST OF INTERSTATE 95 NEXT FEW HOURS...DAMAGING WIND POTENTIAL WITH SQUALL LINE WILL INCREASE. VAD WIND DATA ALREADY INDICATE 50 KT SOUTHERLY FLOW JUST OFF THE SURFACE ACROSS THIS REGION...AND DOWNDRAFTS WILL AID DOWNWARD TRANSFER OF THIS HIGH MOMENTUM AIR TO THE SURFACE. ..KERR.. 02/22/2003 ...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT... 36267569 33657886 33728044 34318029 34907972 35677915 36257857 37467713 37967634 37877547
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 22, 9:27 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Chatham, Cumberland, Durham and 17 more | 63 min |
| Feb 22, 9:45 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Bertie, Bladen, Cabarrus, Caswell and 34 more | 6 hr |
| Feb 22, 11:35 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cherokee | 5 hr |
| Feb 22, 2:22 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bertie, Bladen, Columbus, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates and 8 more | 53 min |
| Feb 22, 2:40 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Camden, Carteret, Chowan and 24 more | 4 hr |
| Feb 22, 3:31 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cherokee, Graham, Madison, Swain | 119 min |
| Feb 22, 4:31 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Currituck, Jones, Pender, Washington | 89 min |
| Feb 22, 6:09 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Camden, Carteret, Chowan and 24 more | 66 min |
| Feb 22, 6:50 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun, Edgefield and 4 more | 5 hr |
| Feb 22, 10:59 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston and 8 more | 61 min |
| Feb 22, 11:55 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Allendale, Bamberg, Beaufort, Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston and 8 more | 5 hr |
| Feb 22, 1:49 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Georgetown, Williamsburg | 116 min |
| Feb 22, 12:55 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Brunswick, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Isle of Wight, James City, Northampton and 19 more | 3 hr |
| Feb 22, 4:35 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Wise and 1 more | 4 hr |
Nearby
Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in South Carolina, 2003Every mesoscale discussion 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.