Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 319
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 9, 2003, 4:15 PM EDT for 22 counties in North Carolina; 12 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 9, 2003, 4:15 PM EDT (20:15 UTC)
- Expired
- May 9, 2003, 10:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 34 counties
Bertie County, NC, Camden County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Durham County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Gates County, NC, Granville County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Martin County, NC, Nash County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Orange County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Person County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Vance County, NC, Warren County, NC, Washington County, NC, Brunswick County, VA, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, Greensville County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Lunenburg County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA, Southampton County, VA
The radar
The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:14 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
27 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 4:28 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Halifax, Pittsylvania | 47 min |
| May 9, 4:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Brunswick, Dinwiddie, Nottoway | 40 min |
| May 9, 4:42 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Southampton | 38 min |
| May 9, 4:51 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Southampton | 24 min |
| May 9, 4:57 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Hertford, Northampton | 38 min |
| May 9, 5:01 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Halifax | 29 min |
| May 9, 5:11 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Mecklenburg | 29 min |
| May 9, 5:23 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Granville, Vance | 37 min |
| May 9, 5:33 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Bertie | 42 min |
| May 9, 5:39 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Granville, Vance | 36 min |
| May 9, 5:41 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Halifax | 34 min |
| May 9, 5:42 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Chowan | 38 min |
| May 9, 6:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Washington | 37 min |
| May 9, 6:14 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Vance | 31 min |
| May 9, 6:17 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Warren | 28 min |
| May 9, 6:20 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Granville | 25 min |
| May 9, 6:29 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Washington | 31 min |
| May 9, 6:29 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin | 31 min |
| May 9, 6:39 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Vance | 21 min |
| May 9, 6:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Nash | 38 min |
| May 9, 6:55 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Tyrrell | 35 min |
| May 9, 6:58 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Franklin, Vance | 32 min |
| May 9, 7:07 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Nash | 38 min |
| May 9, 7:21 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Edgecombe | 54 min |
| May 9, 7:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Nash | 16 min |
| May 9, 8:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Edgecombe | 16 min |
| May 9, 8:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Edgecombe | 13 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
Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 164 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
- 59 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -186 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 982 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 153 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 199 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 092011
SEL9
SPC WW 092015
NCZ000-VAZ000-CWZ000-100200-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 319
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
415 PM EDT FRI MAY 9 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 415 PM UNTIL 1000
PM EDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 40 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 10 MILES SOUTH OF DANVILLE VIRGINIA TO 25
MILES EAST 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...CONTINUE...WW 317...WW 318...
DISCUSSION...ISOLATED SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO TRACK
SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS SOUTHEAST VA. THESE STORMS SHOULD MOVE INTO
NORTHEAST NC SOON...AND MAY PERSIST ALL THE WAY TO THE COAST.
STRONG INSTABILITY AND SUFFICIENT SHEAR WILL MAINTAIN A RISK OF
LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND ISOLATED TORNADOES THROUGH THE
EARLY EVENING.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 29030.
...HART
370,0791 365,0754 354,0754 355,0791SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 3:53 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alexander, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus and 24 more | 97 min |
| May 9, 3:55 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Bertie, Camden, Caswell, Chatham, Chowan and 30 more | 2 hr |
| May 9, 6:53 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Chowan, Craven, Dare, Durham and 21 more | 97 min |
| May 9, 7:20 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Duplin, Greene, Hyde and 7 more | 4 hr |
| May 9, 12:53 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Albemarle, Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Augusta and 57 more | 3 hr |
| May 9, 2:05 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Albemarle, Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Augusta and 58 more | 6 hr |
| May 9, 7:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Washington and 2 more | 5 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2003Tornado Watches in Virginia, 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.