Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2006

Tornado Watch 885

December 25, 200613 counties in North Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 25, 2006, 11:53 AM EST for 13 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Dec 25, 2006, 11:53 AM EST (16:53 UTC)
Expired
Dec 25, 2006, 5:56 PM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
0.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Beaufort County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Craven County, NC, Dare County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Jones County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pender County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:57 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
50%

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 315 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2006-12-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 7 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2006-12-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 346 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
7 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-68 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
486 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
346 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
535 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 25, 11:30 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrunswick, Carteret, Columbus, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico and 1 more90 min
Dec 25, 1:19 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 11 more56 min
Dec 25, 5:17 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Brunswick, Carteret, Craven, Dare, Hyde and 7 more88 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.