Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2009
Tornado Watch 791
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 2, 2009, 6:59 PM EST for 32 counties in North Carolina; 8 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 8 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 2, 2009, 6:59 PM EST (23:59 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 3, 2009, 2:29 AM EST
- In force
- 8 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Particularly dangerous situation
- Yes
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 40 counties
Beaufort County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Craven County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Greene County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett 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, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pender 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, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Florence County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Horry County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:02 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
- 70%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 50%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 50%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 20%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 20%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 90%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2, 7:14 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Dare | 16 min |
| Dec 2, 9:16 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Brunswick, Columbus | 33 min |
| Dec 2, 9:58 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Pender | 47 min |
| Dec 2, 10:00 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Brunswick | 30 min |
| Dec 2, 10:14 PM EST | Tornado Warning | ILM | Pender | 31 min |
| Dec 2, 10:24 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MHX | Duplin, Lenoir | 51 min |
| Dec 2, 11:49 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MHX | Dare, Hyde, Tyrrell | 26 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, 12.0 hours before the alert went out and 212 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1020 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 72 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 308 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 201 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2, 1:08 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brunswick, New Hanover | 2 hr |
| Dec 2, 5:44 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin and 10 more | 91 min |
| Dec 2, 1:31 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Calhoun and 5 more | 89 min |
| Dec 2, 2:08 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley and 17 more | 8 hr |
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.