Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 108

March 8, 200836 counties in North Carolina; 17 counties in Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 8, 2008, 6:12 AM EST for 36 counties in North Carolina; 17 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 8, 2008, 6:12 AM EST (11:12 UTC)
Expired
Mar 8, 2008, 12:00 PM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 53 counties

Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Camden County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Craven County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Gates County, NC, Greene County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, Nash County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Pender County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Tyrrell 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 Hampton, VA, City of Newport News, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Poquoson, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, City of Williamsburg, VA, Greensville County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, York County, VA

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:15 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
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
10%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 8, 7:55 AM ESTTornado WarningMHXDare20 min
Mar 8, 9:28 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQIsle of Wight, Southampton, City of Franklin, City of Suffolk47 min
Mar 8, 10:07 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQGloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Surry, York, City of Newport News and 2 more53 min

Discussions around it

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

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 8, 5:47 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan and 20 more118 min
Mar 8, 11:00 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCamden, Currituck, Dare60 min
Mar 8, 12:44 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCaroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Essex, Gloucester and 30 more61 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2008Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2008Every tornado 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.