Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2009
Tornado Watch 92
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 28, 2009, 5:38 PM EDT for 27 counties in North Carolina; 8 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 28, 2009, 5:38 PM EDT (21:38 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 29, 2009, 12:00 AM EDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 35 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, Greene County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pender County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne 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 Wilmington radar (KLTX), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:41 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
8 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 28, 6:27 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Georgetown, Williamsburg | 48 min |
| Mar 28, 6:27 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Florence | 48 min |
| Mar 28, 6:39 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Florence | 36 min |
| Mar 28, 9:33 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Bladen | 20 min |
| Mar 28, 9:39 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Sampson | 51 min |
| Mar 28, 9:48 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Sampson | 42 min |
| Mar 28, 10:03 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Duplin | 42 min |
| Mar 28, 10:23 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Duplin | 17 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, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 138 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
- 630 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 447 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 24 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 138 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 163 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
870
WWUS20 KWNS 282137
SEL2
SPC WW 282137
NCZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-290400-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 92
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
540 PM EDT SAT MAR 28 2009
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON FROM 540 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 85 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MYRTLE
BEACH SOUTH CAROLINA TO 55 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF CAPE HATTERAS
NORTH CAROLINA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).
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 89...WW 90...WW 91...
DISCUSSION...LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER SC WILL TRACK
EAST-NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS WATCH AREA THIS EVENING. AIRMASS ACROSS
THE REGION IS RATHER MOIST AND SUFFICIENTLY UNSTABLE WITH A RISK OF
A FEW BOW/LEWP STRUCTURES AND SUPERCELLS CAPABLE OF DAMAGING WINDS
AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.
...HARTSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 28, 4:53 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus and 23 more | 67 min |
| Mar 28, 11:51 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Calhoun and 15 more | 54 min |
| Mar 28, 12:47 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley and 9 more | 7 hr |
| Mar 28, 3:19 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Hampton and 2 more | 56 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.