Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Wilmington, NC

September 7, 2004Robeson County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Sep 7, 2004, 1:55 PM EDT for Robeson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 50 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Sep 7, 2004, 1:55 PM EDT (17:55 UTC)
Expired: Sep 7, 2004, 2:45 PM EDT
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Wilmington, NC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Robeson County, NC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 94 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:56 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Sep 7, 2:17 PM EDT	TORNADO 0	2 Ne Orrum, NC	A LARGE TREE WAS UPROOTED AND DOWN ACROSS SR 72E. TORNADO ENTERED FROM COLUMBUS COUNTY.
Sep 7, 2:47 PM EDT	TORNADO 0	Lumberton, NC	BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN WITNESSED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT AND LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENT. NO DAMAGE REPORTED.

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Sep 7, 1:45 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 175 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 163 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 581 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 114 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 144 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.

102 
WFUS52 KILM 071755
TORILM
NCC155-071845-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
154 PM EDT TUE SEP 7 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ROBESON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 245 PM EDT

* AT 152 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING
  A TORNADO 6 MILES EAST OF BARNESVILLE...OR 15 MILES SOUTH OF
  LUMBERTON...MOVING NORTH AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...

   LUMBERTON BY 230 PM...
   BARKER TEN MILE BY 240 PM...
   BUIE BY 255 PM...
   RENNERT BY 300 PM...

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

IF YOU OBSERVED SEVERE WEATHER OR WEATHER RELATED DAMAGE...REPORT IT
TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND ASK THEM TO RELAY THE
REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN WILMINGTON
NC.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM EDT TUESDAY EVENING
FOR SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA. A TORNADO
WATCH ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 PM EDT TUESDAY AFTERNOON FOR
NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA. A TORNADO WATCH ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT
UNTIL 700 PM EDT TUESDAY EVENING FOR NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA.

LAT...LON 3492 7898 3487 7893 3479 7890 3450 7885
      3448 7887 3445 7895 3441 7897 3436 7903
      3483 7921 3483 7918 3495 7903

$$

HAWKINS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 7, 1:22 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Columbus	53 min
Sep 7, 2:43 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Robeson	62 min
Sep 7, 5:20 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Robeson	55 min
Sep 7, 6:16 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Robeson	44 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 2004 Every tornado warning in 2004 Tornadoes in 2004

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.