Alert archive / North Carolina / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 596

April 26, 200340 counties in North Carolina; 6 counties in South Carolina; 8 counties in Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Apr 26, 2003, 1:45 PM EDT for 40 counties in North Carolina; 6 counties in South Carolina; 8 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 26, 2003, 1:45 PM EDT (17:45 UTC)
Expired
Apr 26, 2003, 3:45 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 54 counties

Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Camden County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Craven County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Gates County, NC, Greene County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, Nash County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico 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, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Florence County, SC, Horry County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Newport News, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, Southampton County, VA

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:48 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 nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 105 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2003-04-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 54 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2003-04-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 74 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
54 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-207 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
947 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
74 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.

749 
ACUS11 KWNS 261745
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 261745 
NCZ000-VAZ000-SCZ000-261945-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0596
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1245 PM CDT SAT APR 26 2003

AREAS AFFECTED...SERN VA/ERN NC/NERN SC

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 174...

VALID 261745Z - 261945Z

THE THREAT OF LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED WIND DAMAGE CONTINUES ACROSS
WW174.

REGIONAL RADAR DATA SHOW A CLUSTER OF TSTMS CONTINUING TO INTENSIFY
ACROSS PORTIONS OF WW174 FROM RWI SWD TO NEAR ILM AND CRE. BREAKS IN
THE CLOUDS AHEAD OF THESE STORMS HAS ALLOWED TEMPERATURES TO WARM
INTO THE MID AND UPPER 70S ACROSS ERN NC. THESE TEMPERATURES...IN
COMBINATION WITH DEWPOINTS AROUND 65F...ARE CONTRIBUTING TO SBCAPES
OF 1000-2000 J/KG. DEEP-LAYER SHEAR REMAINS MARGINALLY STRONG ACROSS
THE WARM SECTOR WITH 35-40KTS THROUGH THE LOWEST 6KM AGL. GIVEN THE
MODERATE DEGREE OF INSTABILITY AND SHEAR...ONGOING TSTMS WILL LIKELY
CONTINUE TO INTENSIFY AS THEY MOVE NEWD ACROSS ERN NC/SERN VA. LARGE
HAIL WILL REMAIN THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT...HOWEVER
ISOLATED WIND DAMAGE IS POSSIBLE AS WELL. 

..MEAD.. 04/26/2003

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

ATTN...WFO...AKQ...MHX...RAH...ILM...CAE...

34757961 35437880 36167800 36807723 37287658 37097636
36377564 35987522 35567569 34507701 33497823 33057878
33167896 33797956 34187996 34348012

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 26, 10:03 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick and 54 more117 min
Apr 26, 11:30 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret and 35 more6 hr
Apr 26, 2:04 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Anson, Avery, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell and 20 more116 min
Apr 26, 4:11 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Chowan and 34 more64 min

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.