Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2006

Tornado Watch 761

August 31, 200615 counties in North Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Aug 31, 2006, 7:20 PM EDT for 15 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 9 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 31, 2006, 7:20 PM EDT (23:20 UTC)
Expired
Sep 1, 2006, 4:35 AM EDT
In force
9 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Beaufort County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Craven County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Greene County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 35 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:21 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
20%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
5%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
30%

Warnings issued inside it

7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 31, 8:58 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXOnslow47 min
Aug 31, 11:06 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXCarteret24 min
Sep 1, 12:19 AM EDTTornado WarningMHXDuplin41 min
Sep 1, 1:34 AM EDTTornado WarningMHXCarteret26 min
Sep 1, 2:16 AM EDTTornado WarningMHXBeaufort, Hyde44 min
Sep 1, 3:22 AM EDTTornado WarningMHXHyde23 min
Sep 1, 3:55 AM EDTTornado WarningMHXDare35 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, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 34 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2006-08-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1452 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2006-08-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 17 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
1452 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
793 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 30, 8:22 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBladen, Columbus, Cumberland, Duplin, Greene, Harnett and 8 more53 min
Aug 31, 5:50 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrunswick, Carteret, Craven, Dare, Hyde, Jones and 4 more85 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2006Every tornado watch in 2006

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.