Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 35, NWS Raleigh, NC

September 17, 2004Guilford County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Sep 17, 2004, 11:03 AM EDT for Guilford County, North Carolina. It was in force for 12 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: Sep 17, 2004, 11:03 AM EDT (15:03 UTC)
Expired: Sep 17, 2004, 11:15 AM EDT
In force: 12 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Guilford County, NC

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 100 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:07 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.

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 17, 10:10 AM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 3.1 hours before the alert went out and 12 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: 888 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 551 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 237 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 297 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.0
Supercell composite: 5.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS52 KRAH 171503
TORRAH
NCC081-171515-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1103 AM EDT FRI SEP 17 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN GUILFORD COUNTY IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 1115 AM EDT

* AT 1103 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER COLFAX...OR ABOUT 7 MILES SOUTH OF BELEWS CREEK...
  MOVING NORTH AT 40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  STOKESDALE AND OAK RIDGE AROUND 1110 AM...

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.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND ASK
THEM TO RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE IN RALEIGH.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 500 PM EDT FRIDAY AFTERNOON
FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA.

LAT...LON 3609 8004 3608 8000 3625 7984 3626 8003

$$

DGS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 17, 10:44 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Davidson, Forsyth	31 min
Sep 17, 12:38 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Moore	37 min
Sep 17, 1:09 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Chatham	36 min
Sep 17, 1:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Orange	32 min
Sep 17, 2:14 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Person	46 min
Sep 17, 2:50 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Durham	25 min
Sep 17, 3:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Harnett	24 min
Sep 17, 3:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Wake	46 min
Sep 17, 3:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Harnett	28 min
Sep 17, 4:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Granville	45 min
Sep 17, 4:04 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Harnett	26 min
Sep 17, 4:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Johnston	43 min
Sep 17, 5:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Wake	36 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.