Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2009

Tornado Watch 246

May 5, 200951 counties in North Carolina; 13 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 5, 2009, 5:45 PM EDT for 51 counties in North Carolina; 13 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 5, 2009, 5:45 PM EDT (21:45 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 2009, 10:34 PM EDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 64 counties

Anson County, NC, Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Camden County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Craven County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Durham County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Gaston 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, Lee County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Nash County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Union County, NC, Wake County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Cherokee County, SC, Chester County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC, Union County, SC, York County, SC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:45 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
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
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 5:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHMontgomery, Stanly41 min
May 5, 5:49 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPLaurens, Spartanburg, Union41 min
May 5, 5:50 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPCabarrus, Mecklenburg, Union40 min
May 5, 6:10 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHEdgecombe, Nash, Wilson26 min
May 5, 6:23 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPLaurens, Spartanburg, Union52 min
May 5, 6:29 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHWake46 min
May 5, 6:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHMontgomery, Moore, Stanly44 min
May 5, 6:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAnson, Montgomery, Stanly52 min
May 5, 6:54 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHWake111 min
May 5, 7:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHFranklin, Wake12 min
May 5, 7:13 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHFranklin, Wake26 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 100 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2009-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2009-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 173 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
445 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
173 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
254 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 9:08 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Chowan, Columbus and 24 more97 min
May 5, 9:43 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 6 more92 min
May 5, 10:18 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, Duplin, New Hanover and 4 more8 hr
May 5, 2:03 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Pender, Robeson, Sampson87 min
May 5, 4:35 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCraven, Greene, Lenoir, Pamlico, Wayne55 min
May 5, 5:37 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBladen, Brunswick, Chatham, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland and 23 more53 min
May 5, 7:10 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Anson, Bertie, Cabarrus, Camden, Chatham and 41 more65 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2009Tornado Watches in South 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.