Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2011
Tornado Watch 252
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 28, 2011, 8:48 AM EDT for 12 counties in Georgia; 21 counties in North Carolina; 16 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 28, 2011, 8:48 AM EDT (12:48 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 28, 2011, 4:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 49 counties
Bryan County, GA, Bulloch County, GA, Candler County, GA, Chatham County, GA, Effingham County, GA, Evans County, GA, Jenkins County, GA, Liberty County, GA, Long County, GA, McIntosh County, GA, Screven County, GA, Tattnall County, GA, Beaufort County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Craven County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Greene 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, Robeson County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC, Allendale County, SC, Beaufort County, SC, Berkeley County, SC, Charleston County, SC, Colleton County, SC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Florence County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Hampton County, SC, Horry County, SC, Jasper County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC
The radar
The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 106 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:49 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
- 40%
- 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
- 10%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
18 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 9:37 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Florence, Marion, Williamsburg | 53 min |
| Apr 28, 10:16 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Dillon, Florence, Horry, Marion | 44 min |
| Apr 28, 10:41 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Dillon, Florence, Horry, Marion | 64 min |
| Apr 28, 11:33 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Robeson | 57 min |
| Apr 28, 12:15 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Robeson | 34 min |
| Apr 28, 12:42 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Bladen, Columbus, Robeson | 48 min |
| Apr 28, 1:02 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Bladen, Robeson | 43 min |
| Apr 28, 1:41 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Duplin, Lenoir | 49 min |
| Apr 28, 2:01 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Bladen | 44 min |
| Apr 28, 2:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Columbus, Robeson | 51 min |
| Apr 28, 2:26 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Duplin | 49 min |
| Apr 28, 2:52 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Bladen, Columbus | 38 min |
| Apr 28, 3:10 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Duplin, Lenoir | 50 min |
| Apr 28, 3:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Bladen, Columbus, Pender | 51 min |
| Apr 28, 3:29 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Greene, Martin, Pitt | 46 min |
| Apr 28, 3:37 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Bladen, Columbus, Pender | 38 min |
| Apr 28, 3:48 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Craven, Duplin, Jones, Lenoir | 42 min |
| Apr 28, 3:57 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CHS | McIntosh | 48 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
Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 86 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
- 1847 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -17 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 685 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 221 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 251 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.8
- Supercell composite
- 10.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
735
WWUS20 KWNS 281249
SEL2
SPC WW 281249
GAZ000-NCZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-282000-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 252
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
850 AM EDT THU APR 28 2011
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHEAST GEORGIA
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
EASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 850 AM UNTIL
400 PM 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 70 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES SOUTH OF SAVANNAH
GEORGIA TO 75 MILES NORTHEAST OF NEW BERN 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 249...WW 250...WW 251...
DISCUSSION...BROKEN BAND OF PRE-FRONTAL CONVECTION WILL PERSIST FOR
THE NEXT FEW HOURS...WITH ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT POSSIBLE CLOSER TO
THE COAST AS DAYTIME HEATING PROCEEDS. THE ENVIRONMENT IS EXPECTED
TO REMAIN MODERATELY UNSTABLE /MLCAPE AOA 1500 J PER KG/...WITH
SUFFICIENT VERTICAL SHEAR TO MAINTAIN A THREAT FOR DAMAGING
WINDS/LARGE HAIL...AS WELL AS A COUPLE OF TORNADOES WITH EMBEDDED
SUPERCELLS/BOWS.
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
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.
...THOMPSONSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 8:55 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Chattooga, Walker | 65 min |
| Apr 28, 12:09 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Butts, Carroll and 65 more | 36 min |
| Apr 28, 12:56 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bibb, Bleckley, Burke and 80 more | 4 hr |
| Apr 28, 2:22 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Early, Miller, Quitman and 2 more | 83 min |
| Apr 28, 3:30 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Bibb, Bleckley, Burke, Chattahoochee, Columbia and 30 more | 90 min |
| Apr 28, 4:30 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baldwin, Bibb, Bleckley, Bulloch, Burke, Candler and 37 more | 10 hr |
| Apr 28, 8:05 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Burke, Candler, Dodge, Emanuel, Jefferson, Jenkins and 5 more | 85 min |
| Apr 28, 9:47 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Brantley, Camden, Charlton and 8 more | 9 hr |
| Apr 28, 11:22 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Chatham, Effingham, Emanuel and 2 more | 53 min |
| Apr 28, 12:19 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Appling, Bacon, Brantley, Camden, Charlton, Clinch and 10 more | 56 min |
| Apr 27, 10:12 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alleghany, Ashe, Forsyth, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry and 3 more | 63 min |
| Apr 28, 12:27 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Alleghany, Ashe, Caswell, Davidson, Davie and 11 more | 63 min |
| Apr 28, 12:41 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alamance, Alleghany, Ashe, Caswell, Davidson, Forsyth and 10 more | 7 hr |
| Apr 28, 7:38 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bertie, Camden, Caswell, Chowan, Currituck, Gates and 9 more | 7 hr |
| Apr 28, 2:41 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 21 more | 6 hr |
| Apr 28, 3:19 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Pender | 4 hr |
| Apr 28, 6:33 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 20 more | 57 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2011Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2011Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2011Every tornado 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.