Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 121
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 15, 2008, 6:59 PM EDT for 25 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 4 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 15, 2008, 6:59 PM EDT (22:59 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 15, 2008, 11:25 PM EDT
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 25 counties
Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Camden County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Craven County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Gates County, NC, Greene County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wilson County, NC
The radar
The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:00 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
- 10%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 30%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
3 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 15, 7:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Duplin, Lenoir | 32 min |
| Mar 15, 7:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Onslow | 39 min |
| Mar 15, 8:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Craven, Jones | 31 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, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 83 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 992 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 50 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 115 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 152302
SEL1
SPC WW 152302
NCZ000-CWZ000-160500-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 121
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
700 PM EDT SAT MAR 15 2008
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING FROM 700 PM
UNTIL 100 AM EDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 75 STATUTE
MILES EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES WEST OF ELIZABETH CITY
NORTH CAROLINA TO 50 MILES SOUTHEAST OF NEW BERN NORTH CAROLINA.
FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).
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 119...WW 120...
DISCUSSION...BROKEN LINES/SMALL CLUSTERS OF EMBEDDED SUSTAINED
STORMS/SUPERCELLS NOW OVER ERN PARTS OF THE NC PIEDMONT AND
SANDHILLS MAY MOVE/DEVELOP ENE ACROSS THE ERN NC CSTL PLN LATER THIS
EVENING AS 90+ KT TN MID-LEVEL SPEED MAX CONTINUES EWD. WHILE
INSTABILITY WILL REMAIN WEAK...INTENSE SHEAR...INCREASING UVV IN
EXIT REGION OF JET STREAK...AND PRESENCE OF EXISTING STORMS SUGGEST
AN ENE SPREAD OF SVR WIND/ISOLATED TORNADO THREAT.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24040.
...CORFIDISPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 15, 3:57 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cherokee, Clay | 93 min |
| Mar 15, 11:30 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anson, Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Pender and 4 more | 60 min |
| Mar 15, 2:21 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anson, Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland and 16 more | 84 min |
| Mar 15, 4:36 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Anson, Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, Harnett and 14 more | 8 hr |
| Mar 15, 6:35 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 17 more | 25 min |
| Mar 15, 7:41 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anson, Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, Duplin and 15 more | 64 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.