Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2009
Tornado Watch 273
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 8, 2009, 6:32 PM EDT for 5 states. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 8, 2009, 6:32 PM EDT (22:32 UTC)
- Expired
- May 9, 2009, 2:00 AM EDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 50 kt
All 61 counties
Franklin County, GA, Habersham County, GA, Hart County, GA, Rabun County, GA, Stephens County, GA, Alexander County, NC, Alleghany County, NC, Ashe County, NC, Avery County, NC, Buncombe County, NC, Burke County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Catawba County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Graham County, NC, Haywood County, NC, Henderson County, NC, Jackson County, NC, Macon County, NC, Madison County, NC, McDowell County, NC, Mitchell County, NC, Polk County, NC, Rutherford County, NC, Surry County, NC, Swain County, NC, Transylvania County, NC, Watauga County, NC, Wilkes County, NC, Yancey County, NC, Abbeville County, SC, Anderson County, SC, Cherokee County, SC, Greenville County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Oconee County, SC, Pickens County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC, Union County, SC, Carter County, TN, Cocke County, TN, Greene County, TN, Hawkins County, TN, Johnson County, TN, Sullivan County, TN, Unicoi County, TN, Washington County, TN, Bland County, VA, Carroll County, VA, City of Bristol, VA, City of Galax, VA, City of Radford, VA, Giles County, VA, Grayson County, VA, Pulaski County, VA, Russell County, VA, Scott County, VA, Smyth County, VA, Tazewell County, VA, Washington County, VA, Wythe County, VA
The radar
The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:32 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
- 30%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 5%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 30%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
16 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 6:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Jackson, Swain | 39 min |
| May 8, 7:21 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Haywood, Jackson | 39 min |
| May 8, 7:26 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MRX | Claiborne, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins | 64 min |
| May 8, 7:47 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Alleghany, Ashe | 24 min |
| May 8, 8:09 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MRX | Greene, Hawkins, Sullivan, Washington | 51 min |
| May 8, 8:49 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MRX | Carter, Johnson, Sullivan, Washington | 43 min |
| May 8, 9:18 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MRX | Russell | 27 min |
| May 8, 9:22 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MRX | Russell, Scott, Wise, City of Norton | 53 min |
| May 8, 9:26 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Bland, Smyth, Tazewell, Wythe | 51 min |
| May 8, 9:31 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RNK | Bland, Giles, Tazewell | 6 hr |
| May 8, 9:34 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Bland, Tazewell | 41 min |
| May 8, 10:08 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MRX | Russell, Washington | 52 min |
| May 8, 10:39 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Smyth, Tazewell, Wythe | 41 min |
| May 8, 11:05 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Grayson, Smyth, Wythe | 40 min |
| May 8, 11:41 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Alleghany, Surry | 64 min |
| May 9, 12:46 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RNK | Bland, Grayson, Smyth, Tazewell, Wythe | 4 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
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 187 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
- 44 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -125 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1315 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 45 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 138 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 11:35 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Columbia, Elbert, Lincoln, Wilkes | 85 min |
| May 8, 6:03 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Rabun, Towns, Union | 87 min |
| May 7, 10:18 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Cumberland, Duplin and 19 more | 87 min |
| May 8, 2:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Anson, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 17 more | 4 hr |
| May 8, 5:29 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bedford, Benton, Cannon, Cheatham, Clay, Coffee and 30 more | 3 hr |
| May 8, 9:37 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bedford, Benton, Cannon, Carroll, Cheatham, Chester and 46 more | 53 min |
| May 8, 10:21 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Benton, Carroll, Cheatham, Chester, Crockett, Davidson and 27 more | 7 hr |
| May 8, 1:08 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anderson, Bledsoe, Campbell, Cannon, Clay, Coffee and 23 more | 97 min |
| May 8, 1:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Anderson, Bedford, Bledsoe, Blount, Campbell, Cannon and 31 more | 6 hr |
| May 8, 3:16 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Benton, Carroll, Cheatham, Crockett, Decatur, Dickson and 17 more | 89 min |
| May 8, 4:24 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bedford, Benton, Bledsoe, Cannon, Carroll, Cheatham and 32 more | 66 min |
| May 8, 4:42 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Anderson, Bedford, Benton, Bledsoe, Blount, Campbell and 66 more | 7 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2009Tornado Watches in Virginia, 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.