Alert archive / North Carolina / Mesoscale Discussions in 2004

Mesoscale Discussion 2000

August 14, 200446 counties in North Carolina; 11 counties in South Carolina; 33 counties in Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Aug 14, 2004, 8:37 AM EDT for 46 counties in North Carolina; 11 counties in South Carolina; 33 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 113 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 14, 2004, 8:37 AM EDT (12:37 UTC)
Expired
Aug 14, 2004, 10:30 AM EDT
In force
113 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 90 counties

Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Brunswick 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, Franklin County, NC, Gates County, NC, Greene County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lee 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, Scotland County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Berkeley County, SC, Charleston County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Florence County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Horry County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC, Brunswick County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Hampton, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Newport News, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Poquoson, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, City of Williamsburg, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Gloucester County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, James City County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, Mathews County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Northampton County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, York County, VA

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:38 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 watches that followed

Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 72 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2004-08-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1472 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2004-08-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 125 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
1472 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
627 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
125 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
190 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.8
Supercell composite
4.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

814 
ACUS11 KWNS 141238
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 141237 
VAZ000-NCZ000-SCZ000-141430-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 2000
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0737 AM CDT SAT AUG 14 2004

AREAS AFFECTED...ERN SC...ERN NC...SE VA

CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 752...

VALID 141237Z - 141430Z

THE TORNADO THREAT WILL CONTINUE AS HURRICANE CHARLEY APPROACHES THE
NORTHEAST COAST OF SOUTH CAROLINA OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS.

THE CENTER OF HURRICANE CHARLEY IS CURRENTLY JUST EAST OF CHARLESTON
WITH A NNEWD MOVEMENT AT ABOUT 35 MPH. RAINBANDS AHEAD OF THE CENTER
ARE SPREADING INLAND ACROSS ERN SC AND ERN NC. THE MHX 12Z SOUNDING
SHOWS 1700 J/KG OF MLCAPE WITH 30 TO 35 KT OF DEEP LAYER SHEAR. THIS
WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR MINI-SUPERCELLS. STRONG LOW-LEVEL SHEAR...LCL
HEIGHTS AROUND 500 METERS AND THE FAST FORWARD SPEED OF THE
HURRICANE...WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES WITH SUPERCELLS EMBEDDED
IN THE HEAVY RAIN. THE TORNADO THREAT SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH THE
MORNING HOURS AS HURRICANE CHARLEY APPROACHES AND EVENTUALLY MAKES
LANDFALL BETWEEN MYRTLE BEACH SC AND WILMINGTON NC.

AS FURTHER HEATING OCCURS AND STRONG LOW-LEVEL SHEAR SPREADS NWD...
ADDITIONAL WW MAY BE REQUIRED IN THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO NW INTO
REMAINDER OF NERN NC...SERN VA AND PSBLY SERN MD.

..BROYLES/EVANS.. 08/14/2004

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

ATTN...WFO...AKQ...MHX...RAH...ILM...CHS...CAE...

36317518 34897598 32657783 32127912 32738040 33498046
35367933 37397758 37787678 37467564 36867507

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 14, 2:05 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin and 10 more115 min
Aug 14, 3:30 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBeaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 25 more10 hr
Aug 14, 11:30 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan and 21 more10 hr
Aug 14, 2:34 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 14 more116 min
Aug 14, 6:28 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCamden, Currituck, Dare, Pasquotank92 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2004Mesoscale Discussions in Virginia, 2004Mesoscale Discussions in South Carolina, 2004Every mesoscale discussion 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.