Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 36, NWS Raleigh, NC

September 17, 2004Moore County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Sep 17, 2004, 12:38 PM EDT for Moore County, North Carolina. It was in force for 37 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, 12:38 PM EDT (16:38 UTC)
Expired: Sep 17, 2004, 1:15 PM EDT
In force: 37 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Moore County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:41 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, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 107 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 171638
TORRAH
NCC125-171715-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1239 PM EDT FRI SEP 17 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MOORE COUNTY IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 115 PM EDT

* AT 1239 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER FOXFIRE...OR ABOUT 7 MILES WEST OF SOUTHERN PINES...
  MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  SOUTHERN PINES...
  WHISPERING PINES...
  VASS...
  CAMERON...

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
TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

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

LAT...LON 3507 7953 3518 7963 3543 7933 3539 7929
      3535 7928 3530 7919 3527 7922 3525 7921
      3525 7920 3507 7946 3506 7948

$$

JO

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, 11:03 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Guilford	12 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.