Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 10

February 6, 200418 counties in North Carolina; 6 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 6, 2004, 6:00 PM EST for 18 counties in North Carolina; 6 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Feb 6, 2004, 6:00 PM EST (23:00 UTC)
Expired: Feb 6, 2004, 11:00 PM EST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 24 counties

Beaufort County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Craven County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Greene County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pender County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Berkeley County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Horry County, SC, Marion County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 19 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:04 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.

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 178 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 916 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 120 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 127 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.

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 062259
SEL0  
SPC WW 062300
NCZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-070400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 10
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
600 PM EST FRI FEB 6 2004

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
       EASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY EVENING FROM 600 PM UNTIL 1100 PM EST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 60 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 75 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MYRTLE BEACH SOUTH CAROLINA
TO 70 MILES NORTHEAST OF NEW BERN NORTH CAROLINA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.


OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 9...


DISCUSSION...THREAT FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES MAY DEVELOP OVER ERN
PORTIONS OF THE CAROLINA COASTAL PLAINS THIS EVENING AS SPEED MAX
ROUNDING BASE OF LARGE SCALE TROUGH OVER THE LWR MS VLY ENHANCES
DEEP SHEAR ACROSS REGION.  THIS MAY SUPPORT CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF
EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS WITH BOWING SEGMENTS/ISOLATED TORNADOES.  ANY
TORNADOES WHICH OCCUR MAY BE BRIEF BUT WILL TEND TO BE RAIN-WRAPPED
AND DIFFICULT TO IDENTIFY IN RADAR DATA.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 50 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 400.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23045.


...CORFIDI

325,0810 354,0772 354,0745 325,0783

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 6, 1:51 PM EST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley and 14 more	2 hr
Feb 6, 2:15 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton, Jasper	5 hr
Feb 6, 4:23 PM EST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Allendale, Bamberg, Beaufort, Berkeley, Clarendon, Colleton and 9 more	2 hr
Feb 6, 6:30 PM EST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, Hampton, Jasper	90 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2004 Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2004 Every tornado watch 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.