Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Watches in 2009
Tornado Watch 122
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 6, 2009, 8:03 AM EDT for 38 counties in North Carolina; 42 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 6, 2009, 8:03 AM EDT (12:03 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 6, 2009, 3:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 80 counties
Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Camden County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Craven County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Franklin 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, Northampton County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Accomack County, VA, Brunswick County, VA, Caroline County, VA, Charles City County, VA, Chesterfield County, VA, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Colonial Heights, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Hampton, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Newport News, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Petersburg, VA, City of Poquoson, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Richmond, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, City of Williamsburg, VA, Dinwiddie County, VA, Essex County, VA, Gloucester County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Hanover County, VA, Henrico County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, James City County, VA, King and Queen County, VA, King William County, VA, Lancaster County, VA, Mathews County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Northampton County, VA, Northumberland County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Richmond County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, York County, VA
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:03 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
- 60%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 30%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 40%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 30%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 40%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 30%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 80%
Warnings issued inside it
26 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 6, 8:04 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Brunswick, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Sussex | 26 min |
| Apr 6, 8:57 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin, Nash, Wake | 33 min |
| Apr 6, 9:30 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | James City, Surry, York, City of Newport News, City of Williamsburg | 22 min |
| Apr 6, 9:36 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Nash | 24 min |
| Apr 6, 9:39 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Northampton | 36 min |
| Apr 6, 9:42 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Northampton | 33 min |
| Apr 6, 9:48 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Johnston, Wayne | 27 min |
| Apr 6, 10:08 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Hertford | 37 min |
| Apr 6, 10:08 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Halifax, Nash | 22 min |
| Apr 6, 10:10 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Halifax, Nash | 32 min |
| Apr 6, 10:15 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Johnston, Wayne, Wilson | 45 min |
| Apr 6, 10:27 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Bertie, Hertford, Northampton | 33 min |
| Apr 6, 10:38 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Greene, Pitt | 67 min |
| Apr 6, 10:45 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Isle of Wight, City of Suffolk | 32 min |
| Apr 6, 10:46 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Wake | 29 min |
| Apr 6, 11:00 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Gates, Hertford | 30 min |
| Apr 6, 11:24 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Camden, Gates, Pasquotank | 36 min |
| Apr 6, 11:26 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Greene, Lenoir, Pitt | 49 min |
| Apr 6, 11:35 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Martin | 25 min |
| Apr 6, 11:47 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Bertie | 28 min |
| Apr 6, 11:54 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Camden, Currituck | 23 min |
| Apr 6, 11:56 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Martin, Pitt, Washington | 49 min |
| Apr 6, 12:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Accomack | 24 min |
| Apr 6, 12:06 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | City of Chesapeake, City of Virginia Beach | 39 min |
| Apr 6, 12:16 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Chowan, Pasquotank, Perquimans | 44 min |
| Apr 6, 12:27 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Martin, Tyrrell, Washington | 48 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, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 124 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
- 1894 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -6 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 462 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 64 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 337 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 342 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 4.4
- Supercell composite
- 17.7
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 6, 3:37 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anson, Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, Duplin and 17 more | 83 min |
| Apr 6, 7:07 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Pender, Robeson | 6 hr |
| Apr 6, 10:33 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret and 36 more | 57 min |
| Apr 6, 1:08 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven, Currituck and 8 more | 67 min |
| Apr 5, 8:12 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Scott, Wise, City of Norton | 63 min |
| Apr 5, 8:53 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Washington and 3 more | 5 hr |
| Apr 6, 12:08 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Wise and 1 more | 67 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2009Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2009Every tornado watch in 2009
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.