Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2007

Tornado Watch 150

April 15, 200720 counties in North Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 15, 2007, 2:50 PM EDT for 20 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 15, 2007, 2:50 PM EDT (18:50 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 2007, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Beaufort County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Craven County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Greene County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:53 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
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 3:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHSampson34 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, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 65 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 2007-04-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 188 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 2007-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 343 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
188 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
594 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
343 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
397 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
2.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000
WWUS20 KWNS 151850
SEL0  
SPC WW 151850
NCZ000-CWZ000-160000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 150
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
250 PM EDT SUN APR 15 2007

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 250 PM UNTIL 800
PM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 45 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES NORTHEAST OF CAPE
HATTERAS NORTH CAROLINA TO 30 MILES SOUTH OF SOUTHERN PINES NORTH
CAROLINA.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU0).

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 147...WW 148...WW 149...

DISCUSSION...RAPID CLEARING IS OCCURRING BEHIND INITIAL LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS OVER EASTERN NC.  RE-DEVELOPMENT OF DEEP CONVECTION IS
OCCURRING OVER CENTRAL NC...WHICH SHOULD SPREAD EAST-NORTHEASTWARD
THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING.  RESIDUAL DEWPOINT VALUES NEAR 70F AND
VERY STRONG WINDS ALOFT WILL MAINTAIN A RISK OF HAIL...DAMAGING
WINDS...AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...HART

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 14, 10:10 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnson, Union95 min
Apr 15, 2:01 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Pender, Robeson7 hr
Apr 15, 3:33 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Chatham, Cumberland, Davidson and 21 more87 min
Apr 15, 7:39 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Chatham, Columbus, Craven and 26 more66 min
Apr 15, 8:08 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBeaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 29 more7 hr
Apr 15, 11:15 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret and 37 more2 hr
Apr 15, 12:19 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Alexander, Anson, Cabarrus, Caswell, Catawba and 29 more86 min
Apr 15, 12:42 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlamance, Alexander, Anson, Bertie, Burke, Cabarrus and 44 more7 hr
Apr 15, 2:40 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 19 more65 min
Apr 15, 4:12 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chatham and 41 more2 hr
Apr 15, 3:57 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley and 12 more93 min
Apr 15, 10:20 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCJasper55 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2007Every tornado watch in 2007

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.