Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 870

August 27, 200858 counties in North Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Aug 27, 2008, 9:16 AM EDT for 58 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 27, 2008, 9:16 AM EDT (13:16 UTC)
Expired
Aug 27, 2008, 4:56 PM EDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 58 counties

Alamance County, NC, Anson County, NC, Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Camden County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Craven County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Durham County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Gates County, NC, Granville County, NC, Greene County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lee County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Nash County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Orange County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Pender County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Person County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 43 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:20 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
20%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
5%
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
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 27, 9:27 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHGuilford2 hr
Aug 27, 9:48 AM EDTTornado WarningRAHHarnett27 min
Aug 27, 10:17 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHForsyth103 min
Aug 27, 10:45 AM EDTTornado WarningRAHJohnston, Sampson30 min
Aug 27, 11:00 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHJohnston, Sampson3 hr
Aug 27, 11:39 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHGuilford81 min
Aug 27, 12:09 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHAlamance3 hr
Aug 27, 12:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHSampson42 min
Aug 27, 12:37 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHGuilford, Randolph23 min
Aug 27, 12:38 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHGuilford47 min
Aug 27, 12:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHFranklin, Vance44 min
Aug 27, 12:50 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXJones, Onslow25 min
Aug 27, 12:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAlamance25 min
Aug 27, 12:56 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHRandolph34 min
Aug 27, 1:01 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHChatham44 min
Aug 27, 1:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAlamance, Guilford42 min
Aug 27, 1:06 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHGuilford3 hr
Aug 27, 1:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham, Moore, Randolph46 min
Aug 27, 1:22 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHRandolph113 min
Aug 27, 1:23 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHNash, Wilson37 min
Aug 27, 1:29 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHGuilford, Randolph46 min
Aug 27, 1:41 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHFranklin, Johnston, Nash, Wake34 min
Aug 27, 1:55 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHNash, Wilson35 min
Aug 27, 2:10 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHFranklin, Johnston, Nash, Wake35 min
Aug 27, 2:14 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHSampson31 min
Aug 27, 2:31 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHNash27 min
Aug 27, 2:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAlamance, Chatham42 min
Aug 27, 2:38 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHLee37 min
Aug 27, 2:42 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHAlamance3 hr
Aug 27, 2:43 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHSampson47 min
Aug 27, 2:48 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHHalifax42 min
Aug 27, 3:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHarnett25 min
Aug 27, 3:42 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHDurham27 min
Aug 27, 4:03 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHAlamance, Chatham42 min
Aug 27, 4:32 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHChatham3 hr
Aug 27, 4:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAlamance, Chatham, Orange51 min
Aug 27, 4:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAlamance, Orange41 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, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 150 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 2008-08-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2171 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 2008-08-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 31 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
2171 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
559 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 26, 10:10 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnson, Gaston, Union95 min
Aug 27, 1:56 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAnson, Cabarrus, Cleveland, Davidson, Gaston, Lincoln and 6 more8 hr
Aug 27, 4:52 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCabarrus, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Iredell, Mecklenburg and 3 more83 min
Aug 27, 8:44 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Carteret, Chowan, Columbus and 25 more91 min
Aug 27, 12:24 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Camden and 53 more66 min
Aug 27, 2:34 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Camden and 52 more56 min
Aug 27, 4:26 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Anson, Bertie, Bladen, Chatham, Cumberland and 35 more34 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.