Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2011

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 385

May 26, 201130 counties in North Carolina; 33 counties in Tennessee; 7 counties in Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 26, 2011, 5:10 PM EDT for 30 counties in North Carolina; 33 counties in Tennessee; 7 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 26, 2011, 5:10 PM EDT (21:10 UTC)
Expired: May 27, 2011, 12:00 AM EDT
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected: 2 in
Strongest gust expected: 60 kt

All 70 counties

Alexander County, NC, Avery County, NC, Buncombe County, NC, Burke County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Catawba County, NC, Cherokee County, NC, Clay County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Davie County, NC, Gaston County, NC, Graham County, NC, Haywood County, NC, Henderson County, NC, Iredell County, NC, Jackson County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, Macon County, NC, Madison County, NC, McDowell County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Mitchell County, NC, Polk County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Rutherford County, NC, Swain County, NC, Transylvania County, NC, Union County, NC, Yancey County, NC, Anderson County, TN, Bledsoe County, TN, Blount County, TN, Bradley County, TN, Campbell County, TN, Carter County, TN, Claiborne County, TN, Cocke County, TN, Grainger County, TN, Greene County, TN, Hamblen County, TN, Hamilton County, TN, Hancock County, TN, Hawkins County, TN, Jefferson County, TN, Johnson County, TN, Knox County, TN, Loudon County, TN, Marion County, TN, McMinn County, TN, Meigs County, TN, Monroe County, TN, Morgan County, TN, Polk County, TN, Rhea County, TN, Roane County, TN, Scott County, TN, Sequatchie County, TN, Sevier County, TN, Sullivan County, TN, Unicoi County, TN, Union County, TN, Washington County, TN, City of Bristol, VA, City of Norton, VA, Lee County, VA, Russell County, VA, Scott County, VA, Washington County, VA, Wise County, VA

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 30 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:10 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: 20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes: 5%
Ten or more severe wind reports: 30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more: 30%
Ten or more severe hail reports: 30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more: 20%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports: 70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 26, 5:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Sullivan	50 min
May 26, 5:20 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MRX	Carter, Johnson, Sullivan, Washington	40 min
May 26, 5:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Jefferson	42 min
May 26, 5:51 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MRX	Johnson, Sullivan	39 min
May 26, 5:54 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Transylvania	51 min
May 26, 6:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Scott	27 min
May 26, 6:37 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Caldwell	23 min
May 26, 6:38 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Transylvania	67 min
May 26, 6:53 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Avery, Burke, Caldwell, McDowell	67 min
May 26, 6:55 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Buncombe, Henderson, McDowell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania	65 min
May 26, 7:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Transylvania	65 min
May 26, 7:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Jackson, Macon, Transylvania	55 min
May 26, 7:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Henderson, McDowell and 2 more	70 min
May 26, 8:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Henderson, Polk	55 min
May 26, 8:16 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	MRX	Scott	119 min
May 26, 8:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cleveland, Polk, Rutherford	64 min
May 26, 8:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Lincoln and 3 more	63 min
May 26, 9:23 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Mecklenburg	67 min
May 26, 9:37 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Alexander, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell and 2 more	98 min
May 26, 9:52 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Gaston, Mecklenburg	38 min
May 26, 10:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cabarrus, Davie, Iredell, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Union	64 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, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 293 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 149 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -412 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1701 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -99 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -89 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 26, 10:15 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Avery, Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood and 8 more	9 hr
May 26, 1:22 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Cherokee, Graham	83 min
May 26, 1:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Alleghany, Ashe, Surry, Watauga, Wilkes, Yadkin	11 hr
May 26, 3:32 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson and 8 more	58 min
May 26, 4:36 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee and 15 more	84 min
May 26, 7:12 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Alexander, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland and 11 more	93 min
May 25, 8:22 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Benton, Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer and 18 more	53 min
May 25, 9:33 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Bedford, Benton, Cannon, Carroll, Cheatham, Chester and 50 more	7 hr
May 26, 8:56 AM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bledsoe, Bradley, Franklin, Grundy, Hamilton, Lincoln and 8 more	94 min
May 26, 3:09 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Clay, Fentress, Jackson, Overton, Pickett, Scott and 1 more	96 min
May 26, 1:15 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Alleghany, Bath, Bland, Buchanan, Carroll, Craig and 14 more	90 min
May 26, 4:30 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Alleghany, Bath, Bland, Buchanan, Craig, Dickenson and 18 more	60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Tennessee, 2011 Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Carolina, 2011 Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Virginia, 2011 Every 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.