Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 921
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 10, 2004, 3:20 AM EST for 39 counties in North Carolina; 11 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 10, 2004, 3:20 AM EST (08:20 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 10, 2004, 10:00 AM EST
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 50 counties
Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Camden County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Chowan 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, Moore County, NC, Nash County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Wake County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, Greensville County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Sussex County, VA
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:23 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
1 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 10, 6:03 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin | 27 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 00:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 116 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
- 357 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -66 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 956 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 63 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 175 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 191 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.4
- Supercell composite
- 3.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 100823
SEL1
SPC WW 100820
NCZ000-VAZ000-CWZ000-101500-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 921
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
320 AM EST FRI DEC 10 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
EXTREME SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY MORNING FROM 320 AM UNTIL 1000 AM EST.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 105 STATUTE MILES EAST AND
WEST OF A LINE FROM 70 MILES NORTHEAST OF ELIZABETH CITY NORTH
CAROLINA TO 30 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF FAYETTEVILLE 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 920...
DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS/SUPERCELLS DEVELOPING UPSTREAM ACROSS NRN
SC EXPECTED TO MOVE/DEVELOP NEWD INTO PARTS OF NC DURING THE NEXT
FEW HOURS... WHERE AMPLE SHEAR WILL BE PRESENT FOR SUSTAINED
ACTIVITY. OTHER SUPERCELLS MAY EVOLVE FROM CONFLUENCE/LOW LEVEL
WARM ADVECTION BAND OVER EXTREME ERN NC. DEEP SHEAR SHOULD
CONTINUE TO INCREASE ACROSS REGION THIS MORNING AS 80+ KT MID LEVEL
SPEED MAX CONTINUES NEWD FROM THE SRN APPALACHIANS. STRONGEST
ACTIVITY SHOULD BE CONFINED TO REGION ALONG QUASISTATIONARY FRONT
FROM S CNTRL NC NEWD INTO SE VA.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23040.
...CORFIDI
365,0732 344,0763 344,0801 365,0771SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 10, 2:11 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Chowan, Columbus and 21 more | 64 min |
| Dec 10, 2:35 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Onslow, Pender, Robeson | 6 hr |
| Dec 10, 6:00 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Onslow, Pender, Robeson | 2 hr |
| Dec 10, 6:18 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Craven, Cumberland and 31 more | 117 min |
| Dec 10, 11:12 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke and 22 more | 33 min |
| Dec 10, 12:53 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Swain | 2 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.