Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 835
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 17, 2004, 4:35 PM EDT for 20 counties in North Carolina; 12 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 17, 2004, 4:35 PM EDT (20:35 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 17, 2004, 8:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 32 counties
Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Greene County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Nash County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Pender County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Amelia County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Lunenburg County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA, Nottoway County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 43 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:38 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.
Warnings issued inside it
8 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 17, 4:38 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Mecklenburg | 22 min |
| Sep 17, 4:47 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Johnston | 43 min |
| Sep 17, 5:04 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Cumberland, Prince Edward | 41 min |
| Sep 17, 5:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Wake | 36 min |
| Sep 17, 5:24 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | AKQ | Lunenburg, Prince Edward | 2 hr |
| Sep 17, 6:16 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Amelia, Goochland, Powhatan | 29 min |
| Sep 17, 6:20 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Greensville, City of Emporia | 25 min |
| Sep 17, 7:17 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | AKQ | Amelia, Caroline, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Essex, Goochland and 7 more | 118 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, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 137 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
- 1655 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 550 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 83 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 79 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.5
- Supercell composite
- 3.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 172042
SEL5
SPC WW 172035
NCZ000-SCZ000-VAZ000-CWZ000-180000-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 835
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
435 PM EDT FRI SEP 17 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL AND PART OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
FAR NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA
SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 435 PM UNTIL 800
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 35 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 105 MILES NORTH OF ROCKY MOUNT NORTH CAROLINA TO 25
MILES SOUTHWEST 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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 832. WATCH NUMBER 832 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 435
PM EDT. CONTINUE...WW 833...WW 834...
DISCUSSION...LINE OF BOW ECHOES AND EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS EXPECTED TO
MAINTAIN A GRADUAL EWD MOTION INTO ERN NC DURING THE NEXT FEW
HOURS...WITH INDIVIDUAL CELLS RACING NEWD AT AROUND 40 KT. WIND
DAMAGE AND TORNADOES WILL BE LIKELY WITH STRONGER CELLS WITHIN THE
LINE...GIVEN COLLOCATION OF MODERATE INSTABILITY AND STRONG SHEAR.
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 22040.
...EVANS
372,0771 340,0773 340,0784 372,0783SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16, 8:45 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Polk and 1 more | 6 hr |
| Sep 16, 11:42 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Gaston, Mecklenburg | 2 hr |
| Sep 17, 1:51 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston and 6 more | 84 min |
| Sep 17, 9:26 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Bladen, Caswell, Chatham, Cumberland and 24 more | 2 hr |
| Sep 17, 10:10 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Bladen, Brunswick, Caswell, Chatham and 37 more | 7 hr |
| Sep 17, 11:03 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Bertie, Caswell, Chatham, Cumberland, Durham and 26 more | 87 min |
| Sep 17, 12:33 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Craven, Gates and 8 more | 117 min |
| Sep 17, 1:15 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 18 more | 7 hr |
| Sep 17, 1:37 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Bladen, Brunswick, Caswell, Chatham, Columbus and 29 more | 113 min |
| Sep 17, 3:53 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Craven, Edgecombe and 11 more | 2 hr |
| Sep 17, 4:01 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, Duplin, Franklin and 6 more | 59 min |
| Sep 17, 6:19 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Craven, Currituck and 13 more | 116 min |
| Sep 17, 6:50 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Hertford and 3 more | 5 hr |
| Sep 17, 7:23 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Duplin, Edgecombe, Greene, Halifax, Lenoir, Nash and 4 more | 37 min |
| Sep 17, 3:50 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Clarke, Frederick, Loudoun, City of Winchester | 4 hr |
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.