Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 753
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Aug 14, 2004, 11:30 AM EDT for 27 counties in North Carolina; 7 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 10 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 14, 2004, 11:30 AM EDT (15:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 14, 2004, 9:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 10 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 34 counties
Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Camden County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Craven County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Gates County, NC, Greene County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Pender County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA
The radar
The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:32 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.
Warnings issued inside it
11 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 14, 12:31 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Onslow | 29 min |
| Aug 14, 1:00 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Onslow | 30 min |
| Aug 14, 1:15 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | MHX | Duplin, Jones, Lenoir, Onslow | 2 hr |
| Aug 14, 2:38 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | MHX | Greene, Pitt | 2 hr |
| Aug 14, 3:27 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Hyde | 33 min |
| Aug 14, 3:56 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Tyrrell | 34 min |
| Aug 14, 3:57 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | MHX | Martin | 93 min |
| Aug 14, 5:54 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | City of Chesapeake, City of Virginia Beach | 36 min |
| Aug 14, 6:51 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | City of Virginia Beach | 14 min |
| Aug 14, 7:05 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | City of Chesapeake | 15 min |
| Aug 14, 7:18 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | City of Chesapeake | 17 min |
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, 3.5 hours before the alert went out and 47 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 141534
SEL3
SPC WW 141530
NCZ000-VAZ000-CWZ000-150100-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 753
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1130 AM EDT SAT AUG 14 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY MORNING AND EVENING FROM 1130 AM UNTIL 900
PM EDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES SOUTH OF WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA TO 30
MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF NORFOLK VIRGINIA.
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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 752. WATCH NUMBER 752 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER
1130 AM EDT.
DISCUSSION...HURRICANE CHARLEY IS MOVING ONSHORE NEAR THE NC/SC
BORDER...AND WILL CONTINUE NNEWD ACROSS ERN NC TODAY /SEE LATEST NHC
ADVISORIES FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS/. WIDESPREAD CLOUDS/RAIN ARE
RESULTING IN RELATIVELY STABLE PROFILES ACROSS CENTRAL NC...WHEREAS
RICHER LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE AND MORE CELLULAR CONVECTIVE BANDS ARE
OVERSPREADING THE NC COASTAL PLAIN. PRESENT INDICATIONS ARE THAT
THE MOST FAVORABLE COMBINATION OF LOW-LEVEL SHEAR AND INSTABILITY
FOR SUPERCELLS/TORNADOES WILL REMAIN OVER THE NC COASTAL PLAIN
THROUGH THE AFTERNOON TO THE NE OF THE CENTER OF CIRCULATION. LATER
THIS AFTERNOON...THE THREAT FOR AN ISOLATED TORNADO OR TWO MAY ALSO
SPREAD NWD INTO SE VA.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 18030.
...THOMPSON
335,0785 370,0764 370,0743 335,0765SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 14, 2:05 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin and 10 more | 115 min |
| Aug 14, 3:30 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 25 more | 10 hr |
| Aug 14, 8:37 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret and 40 more | 113 min |
| Aug 14, 2:34 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 14 more | 116 min |
| Aug 14, 6:28 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Camden, Currituck, Dare, Pasquotank | 92 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2004Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2004Every 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.