Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 622
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 2, 2003, 7:50 PM EDT for 37 counties in North Carolina; Dillon County, South Carolina; 8 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 2, 2003, 7:50 PM EDT (23:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 3, 2003, 1:00 AM EDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 46 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, Cumberland County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Gates County, NC, Greene County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Hertford 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, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Dillon County, SC, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, Southampton County, VA
The radar
The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:53 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
5 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2, 8:39 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Gates | 31 min |
| Jul 2, 8:55 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Greene, Lenoir, Pitt | 65 min |
| Jul 2, 9:16 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | MHX | Duplin, Greene, Lenoir, Pitt | 119 min |
| Jul 2, 9:24 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RAH | Wayne | 66 min |
| Jul 2, 11:13 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | MHX | Duplin, Greene, Lenoir, Pitt | 3 hr |
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, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 71 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1421 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 199 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 341 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 022353
SEL2
SPC WW 022350
NCZ000-VAZ000-CWZ000-030500-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 622
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
750 PM EDT WED JUL 2 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
TIDEWATER VIRGINIA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FROM 750 PM
UNTIL 100 AM EDT.
TORNADOES...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 55 MPH...AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 90 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF NORFOLK VIRGINIA TO 15
MILES SOUTHWEST OF WILMINGTON 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 620. WATCH NUMBER 620 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 750
PM EDT. CONTINUE...WW 621...
DISCUSSION...THREAT FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES EXPECTED TO PERSIST INTO
LATE EVENING AS SURFACE LOW ASSOCIATED WITH REMNANT OF T.S. BILL
CONTINUES NEWD INTO SE VA. WHILE DEEP WIND PROFILES ARE MORE
UNIDIRECTIONAL THAN LAST EVENING...SUBSTANTIAL DIRECTIONAL SHEAR
DOES EXIST IN THE NEAR- SURFACE LAYER...AND LOW IS FORECAST TO
SLIGHTLY DEEPEN. COUPLED WITH SLIGHTLY GREATER SURFACE-BASED CAPE
THAN LAST NIGHT...AND WITH CONTINUED INFLUX OF VERY RICH BOUNDARY
LAYER MOISTURE...POTENTIAL SHOULD PERSIST FOR LOW LEVEL STORM
ROTATION/ISOLATED TORNADOES.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXTREME
TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 50 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI
WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23030.
...CORFIDI
370,0735 340,0763 340,0793 370,0770
WWUS20 KWNS 022353
SEL2
SPC WW 022350
NCZ000-VAZ000-CWZ000-030500-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 622
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
750 PM EDT WED JUL 2 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
TIDEWATER VIRGINIA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FROM 750 PM
UNTIL 100 AM EDT.
TORNADOES...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 55 MPH...AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 90 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF NORFOLK VIRGINIA TO 15
MILES SOUTHWEST OF WILMINGTON 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 620. WATCH NUMBER 620 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 750
PM EDT. CONTINUE...WW 621...
DISCUSSION...THREAT FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES EXPECTED TO PERSIST INTO
LATE EVENING AS SURFACE LOW ASSOCIATED WITH REMNANT OF T.S. BILL
CONTINUES NEWD INTO SE VA. WHILE DEEP WIND PROFILES ARE MORE
UNIDIRECTIONAL THAN LAST EVENING...SUBSTANTIAL DIRECTIONAL SHEAR
DOES EXIST IN THE NEAR- SURFACE LAYER...AND LOW IS FORECAST TO
SLIGHTLY DEEPEN. COUPLED WITH SLIGHTLY GREATER SURFACE-BASED CAPE
THAN LAST NIGHT...AND WITH CONTINUED INFLUX OF VERY RICH BOUNDARY
LAYER MOISTURE...POTENTIAL SHOULD PERSIST FOR LOW LEVEL STORM
ROTATION/ISOLATED TORNADOES.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXTREME
TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 50 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI
WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23030.
...CORFIDI
370,0735 340,0763 340,0793 370,0770SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2, 2:20 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin and 10 more | 7 hr |
| Jul 2, 5:32 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin and 10 more | 58 min |
| Jul 2, 7:52 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Chowan and 23 more | 53 min |
| Jul 2, 8:15 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Chowan, Columbus and 18 more | 6 hr |
| Jul 2, 10:49 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Columbus, Jones, Pender | 116 min |
| Jul 2, 2:26 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anson, Bladen, Brunswick, Chatham, Columbus, Cumberland and 18 more | 2 hr |
| Jul 2, 2:55 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin and 19 more | 5 hr |
| Jul 2, 6:22 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anson, Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus and 27 more | 53 min |
| Jul 1, 8:12 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley and 12 more | 2 hr |
| Jul 1, 9:55 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley and 18 more | 6 hr |
| Jul 2, 12:25 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley and 20 more | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2003Tornado Watches in Virginia, 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.