Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 889
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 5, 2008, 4:39 PM EDT for 41 counties in North Carolina; 19 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 12 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 5, 2008, 4:39 PM EDT (20:39 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 6, 2008, 4:51 AM EDT
- In force
- 12 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 60 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, Cumberland County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Gates County, NC, Greene County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hoke 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, Robeson County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Bamberg County, SC, Beaufort County, SC, Berkeley County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Charleston County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Colleton County, SC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Florence County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Horry County, SC, Lee County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC
The radar
The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:42 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.
Warnings issued inside it
7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5, 7:41 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CHS | Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester | 5 hr |
| Sep 5, 8:58 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Duplin | 32 min |
| Sep 5, 9:54 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Onslow | 26 min |
| Sep 5, 9:55 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Duplin | 35 min |
| Sep 6, 12:42 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CHS | Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester | 2 hr |
| Sep 6, 1:31 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RAH | Cumberland, Harnett, Johnston, Sampson, Wake | 6 hr |
| Sep 6, 1:45 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RAH | Hoke, Lee, Moore, Richmond, Scotland | 6 hr |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 186 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
- 61 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -46 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 584 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 192 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 250 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
621
WWUS20 KWNS 052041
SEL9
SPC WW 052041
NCZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-060900-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 889
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
440 PM EDT FRI SEP 5 2008
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
MUCH OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
MUCH OF EASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND SATURDAY MORNING FROM 440 PM
UNTIL 500 AM EDT.
TORNADOES...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 EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF
CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA TO 15 MILES NORTHEAST OF ELIZABETH CITY
NORTH CAROLINA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU9).
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 888...
DISCUSSION...AS T.S. HANNA TRACKS NWD FOR LANDFALL ON CAROLINA COAST
OVERNIGHT...FAVORABLE SHEAR AND THERMODYNAMICS FOR TORNADIC
SUPERCELLS WILL BE INCREASING. CURRENTLY BANDS OF CONVECTION
CONTINUE TO ROTATE ONSHORE CAROLINA COAST AND WITH SFC-1KM SHEAR
CURRENTLY 25-30KT ISOLATED BRIEF TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE. BY EVENING
THE THREAT WILL BE INCREASING AS SHEAR RAMPS UP TO 40-50KT MUCH OF
COASTAL AREA AND SPREADS INLAND ALONG WITH THE DEEPER TROPICAL AIR
MASS.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXTREME
TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI
WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 13035.
...HALESSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5, 11:15 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 12 more | 60 min |
| Sep 5, 4:00 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 13 more | 30 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2008Tornado Watches in South 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.