Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2008

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 784

July 31, 200818 counties in North Carolina; Darlington County, Dillon County, Marlboro County, South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jul 31, 2008, 5:02 PM EDT for 18 counties in North Carolina; Darlington County, Dillon County, Marlboro County, South Carolina. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 31, 2008, 5:02 PM EDT (21:02 UTC)
Expired
Jul 31, 2008, 8:54 PM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 21 counties

Beaufort County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Columbus 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, Pender County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Marlboro County, SC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:04 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
5%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
2%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
20%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 31, 5:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXTyrrell, Washington65 min
Jul 31, 5:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXDare31 min
Jul 31, 5:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMDarlington, Dillon, Marlboro47 min
Jul 31, 6:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBladen, Robeson41 min
Jul 31, 6:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXBeaufort, Craven55 min
Jul 31, 6:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBladen38 min
Jul 31, 6:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXDare, Hyde51 min
Jul 31, 6:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXBeaufort, Hyde45 min
Jul 31, 6:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMRobeson28 min
Jul 31, 6:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXDuplin45 min
Jul 31, 6:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBladen, Columbus, Robeson43 min
Jul 31, 7:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXBeaufort, Pamlico39 min
Jul 31, 7:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXCraven, Duplin, Jones, Onslow, Pamlico55 min
Jul 31, 7:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBrunswick, Columbus52 min
Jul 31, 8:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXCarteret, Craven, Onslow39 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, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 91 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 2008-07-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1212 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 2008-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 79 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
1212 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-90 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
993 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
79 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
94 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000
WWUS20 KWNS 312102
SEL4  
SPC WW 312102
NCZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-010200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 784
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
505 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2008

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

       EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
       EXTREME NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 505 PM UNTIL
1000 PM EDT.

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

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 45
STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST
OF FAYETTEVILLE NORTH CAROLINA TO 40 MILES NORTH OF CAPE HATTERAS
NORTH CAROLINA.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU4).

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR 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. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY
DO PRODUCE TORNADOES.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 782...WW 783...

DISCUSSION...MULTICELL STORM CLUSTERS WILL LIKELY CONTINUE TO SPREAD
EWD ACROSS THE COASTAL PLAIN OF ERN NC AND NE SC.  STRONG
INSTABILITY AND STORM MERGERS WILL SUPPORT A THREAT FOR DAMAGING
DOWNBURSTS AND MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL...WITH THE MORE ORGANIZED
STORMS EXPECTED ACROSS NC IN PROXIMITY TO THE STRONGER MID LEVEL
FLOW.

AVIATION...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 550. MEAN STORM
MOTION VECTOR 27020.


...THOMPSON

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 31, 1:24 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Alexander, Cabarrus, Caswell, Catawba, Chatham and 19 more66 min
Jul 31, 1:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlamance, Alexander, Anson, Bertie, Buncombe, Burke and 64 more5 hr
Jul 31, 4:27 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Camden, Chowan and 41 more63 min
Jul 31, 7:08 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Dare and 8 more67 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Carolina, 2008Severe Thunderstorm Watches in South Carolina, 2008Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2008

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.