Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 2, 2004Wake County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at May 2, 2004, 5:14 PM EDT for Wake County, North Carolina. It was in force for 31 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 2, 2004, 5:14 PM EDT (21:14 UTC)
Expired: May 2, 2004, 5:45 PM EDT
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Wake County, NC

The watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 2, 4:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 115 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: 292 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 499 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 171 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 164 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WFUS52 KRAH 022114
TORRAH
NCC183-022145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
512 PM EDT SUN MAY 2 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN WAKE COUNTY IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 545 PM EDT

* AT 512 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF FUQUAY-VARINA...OR ABOUT 9 MILES NORTH
  OF LILLINGTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  FUQUAY-VARINA...
  LAKE WHEELER...
  GARNER... 

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS 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. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS AND EXTERIOR WALLS AS FLYING DEBRIS
GENERATED BY TORNADIC WINDS CAN BE DEADLY.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM EDT
SUNDAY EVENING FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA.

LAT...LON 3557 7887 3559 7893 3573 7875 3569 7866
          3565 7854 3553 7870

$$

13

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 2, 2:07 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Johnston, Wayne	23 min
May 2, 3:04 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Edgecombe	16 min
May 2, 3:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Warren	30 min
May 2, 4:02 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Montgomery	28 min
May 2, 4:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Harnett	39 min
May 2, 5:03 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Harnett	27 min
May 2, 5:58 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Person	32 min
May 2, 6:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Richmond	39 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.