Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2011

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 302

May 14, 201141 counties in North Carolina; 6 counties in South Carolina; 35 counties in Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 14, 2011, 1:44 PM EDT for 41 counties in North Carolina; 6 counties in South Carolina; 35 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 14, 2011, 1:44 PM EDT (17:44 UTC)
Expired
May 14, 2011, 9:15 PM EDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 82 counties

Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Camden County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Craven County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Edgecombe 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, New Hanover County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Pender County, NC, Perquimans 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, Horry County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Brunswick 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, 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, Mathews County, VA, Middlesex County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, York County, VA

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:46 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
10%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
2%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 14, 2:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBladen, Columbus, Robeson59 min
May 14, 3:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHCumberland, Sampson42 min
May 14, 3:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXDuplin52 min
May 14, 3:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston, Sampson, Wayne37 min
May 14, 4:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHCumberland21 min
May 14, 4:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston, Sampson, Wayne42 min
May 14, 4:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXDuplin, Lenoir66 min
May 14, 4:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXGreene, Lenoir51 min
May 14, 5:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHalifax, Warren40 min
May 14, 5:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXBeaufort, Martin, Pitt52 min
May 14, 5:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQAmelia, Chesterfield, Powhatan48 min
May 14, 6:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQNorthampton42 min
May 14, 6:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQChesterfield, Dinwiddie, Henrico, City of Colonial Heights, City of Petersburg42 min
May 14, 7:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQIsle of Wight, Southampton, Surry, Sussex34 min
May 14, 7:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCharles City, Gloucester, James City, King and Queen, New Kent, Surry and 2 more40 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, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 150 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2011-05-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 618 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2011-05-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 51 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
618 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-114 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
824 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
85 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 13, 9:00 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Chatham, Davidson, Davie and 14 more30 min
May 14, 1:02 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Camden, Chowan, Columbus and 23 more118 min
May 14, 4:21 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Chowan, Columbus, Craven and 31 more84 min
May 14, 7:32 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Chowan and 37 more58 min
May 14, 4:30 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAbbeville, Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun and 10 more30 min
May 14, 4:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley and 10 more4 hr
May 14, 6:44 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston and 7 more61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Carolina, 2011Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Virginia, 2011Severe Thunderstorm Watches in South Carolina, 2011Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2011

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.