Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 23
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 22, 2003, 2:40 PM EST for 30 counties in North Carolina; Marion County, South Carolina. It was in force for 4 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 22, 2003, 2:40 PM EST (19:40 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 22, 2003, 7:00 PM EST
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 31 counties
Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Camden County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Craven County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Gates County, NC, Greene County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Pender County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Marion County, SC
The radar
The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:41 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.
Warnings issued inside it
14 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 22, 2:47 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Bladen, Columbus | 58 min |
| Feb 22, 3:03 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Sampson | 27 min |
| Feb 22, 3:24 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Wayne | 36 min |
| Feb 22, 3:25 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Duplin | 50 min |
| Feb 22, 3:45 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Bladen, Columbus | 60 min |
| Feb 22, 3:53 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Greene, Hertford | 37 min |
| Feb 22, 4:16 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Pitt | 29 min |
| Feb 22, 4:20 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Pender | 55 min |
| Feb 22, 4:30 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | New Hanover | 60 min |
| Feb 22, 4:38 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Craven, Jones | 37 min |
| Feb 22, 4:58 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Onslow | 32 min |
| Feb 22, 5:33 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MHX | Onslow | 27 min |
| Feb 22, 5:55 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Carteret, Craven, Pamlico | 35 min |
| Feb 22, 6:06 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MHX | Pamlico | 9 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 77 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.
000 WWUS20 KWNS 221935 SEL3 SPC WW 221940 NCZ000-CWZ000-230000- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 23 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 240 PM EST SAT FEB 22 2003 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA COASTAL WATERS EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 240 PM UNTIL 700 PM EST. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA TO 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF ELIZABETH CITY NORTH CAROLINA. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 19. WATCH NUMBER 19 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 240 PM EST. CONTINUE...WW 20...WW 21...WW 22... DISCUSSION...SQUALL LINE MOVE EWD ACROSS REMAINDER OF ERN NC AND OFFSHORE BY 00Z. WITH VERY STRONG WIND FIELDS AT ALL LEVELS AND MODERATELY UNSTABLE AIRMASS IN WARM SECTOR...WIND DAMAGE POTENTIAL WILL CONTINUE WITH STRONGEST STORMS AS WELL AS ISOLATED TORNADOES. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH...EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24040. ...HALES 363,0744 340,0771 340,0793 363,0770
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, 11:47 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Camden, Chowan, Columbus and 33 more | 88 min |
| Feb 22, 2:22 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bertie, Bladen, Columbus, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates and 8 more | 53 min |
| 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 |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2003Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2003Every tornado watch 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.