Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 68
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 18, 2008, 3:59 AM EST for 9 counties in North Carolina; 14 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 18, 2008, 3:59 AM EST (08:59 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 18, 2008, 10:25 AM EST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 23 counties
Bertie County, NC, Camden County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Gates County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, City of Chesapeake, 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, Isle of Wight County, VA, Northampton County, VA, Southampton County, VA, York County, VA
The radar
The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:02 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
- 30%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 20%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 5%
- 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%
Warnings issued inside it
6 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 18, 4:06 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Bertie | 54 min |
| Feb 18, 4:58 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Chowan, Gates, Hertford, Perquimans | 54 min |
| Feb 18, 5:11 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Bertie | 34 min |
| Feb 18, 5:30 AM EST | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Perquimans | 20 min |
| Feb 18, 5:41 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Pasquotank | 26 min |
| Feb 18, 5:55 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Camden, Currituck | 35 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
Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 00:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 185 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
- 458 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 359 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 421 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 180900
SEL8
SPC WW 180900
NCZ000-VAZ000-CWZ000-181600-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 68
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
400 AM EST MON FEB 18 2008
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
EXTREME NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY MORNING FROM 400 AM UNTIL 1100 AM EST.
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 60 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF
ELIZABETH CITY NORTH CAROLINA TO 35 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF
NORFOLK VIRGINIA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU8).
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 66...WW 67...
DISCUSSION...BROKEN SQLN WITH EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS OVER ERN NC
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE MOVING ENEWD...WITH ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT
LIKELY ON NRN END OF SYSTEM AS IT ENCOUNTERS INCREASINGLY RICH
MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH STRONG SLY LLJ. ASCENT PROVIDED BY
PROGRESSIVE LARGE SCALE TROUGH TO THE WEST...AND INTENSE SHEAR
PROFILES...SUGGEST POTENTIAL FOR EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS WITH A RISK FOR
HIGH WIND/ISOLATED TORNADOES.
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
350. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22050.
...CORFIDISPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 18, 2:04 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Chowan and 22 more | 26 min |
| Feb 18, 2:30 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 26 more | 7 hr |
| Feb 18, 3:45 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Hertford, Northampton and 2 more | 30 min |
| Feb 18, 6:18 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 12 more | 57 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2008Tornado 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.