Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 796
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Aug 29, 2004, 2:30 PM EDT for 26 counties in North Carolina; 5 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 8 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 29, 2004, 2:30 PM EDT (18:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 29, 2004, 10:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 8 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 31 counties
Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Craven County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Greene County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lee County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Moore County, NC, Nash County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pender County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Wake County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Chesterfield County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Horry County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 63 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:33 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
2 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 29, 2:32 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Marlboro | 43 min |
| Aug 29, 3:22 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Hoke | 23 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, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 145 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
- 1320 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -17 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 704 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 67 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 83 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 1.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 291829
SEL6
SPC WW 291830
NCZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-300200-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 796
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
230 PM EDT SUN AUG 29 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 230 PM UNTIL 1000
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 80 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE
OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF SOUTHERN PINES NORTH
CAROLINA TO 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF WILMINGTON 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 795...
DISCUSSION...OUTER CONVECTIVE BANDS OF TS GASTON HAVE SEVERAL
EMBEDDED LOW LEVEL CIRCULATIONS OVER EASTERN NC AND NORTHEAST SC.
AIRMASS HAS HEATED INTO THE MID 80S IN THIS REGION...WITH ILM VAD
SHOWING 25-30 KNOT SHEAR IN THE LOWEST 1KM. ISOLATED TORNADOES
APPEAR POSSIBLE IN WATCH AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
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 14035.
...HART
362,0781 345,0764 331,0783 343,0801SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 29, 1:30 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin and 15 more | 2 hr |
| Aug 29, 6:33 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin and 18 more | 117 min |
| Aug 28, 8:57 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Berkeley, Georgetown | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2004Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 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.