Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2012
Severe Thunderstorm Watch 279
The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 15, 2012, 3:13 PM EDT for 6 counties in Georgia; 50 counties in North Carolina; 12 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 15, 2012, 3:13 PM EDT (19:13 UTC)
- Expired
- May 15, 2012, 10:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 68 counties
Elbert County, GA, Franklin County, GA, Habersham County, GA, Hart County, GA, Rabun County, GA, Stephens County, GA, Alamance County, NC, Alexander County, NC, Anson County, NC, Buncombe County, NC, Burke County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Catawba County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Davie County, NC, Durham County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Gaston County, NC, Granville County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Henderson County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Iredell County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Lee County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, McDowell County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Nash County, NC, Orange County, NC, Person County, NC, Polk County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Rutherford County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Transylvania County, NC, Union County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Abbeville County, SC, Anderson County, SC, Cherokee County, SC, Chester County, SC, Greenville County, SC, Greenwood County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Oconee County, SC, Pickens County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC, Union County, SC, York County, SC
The radar
The Greer radar (KGSP), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:16 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
- 80%
Warnings issued inside it
5 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 4:25 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Henderson, Rutherford | 36 min |
| May 15, 4:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Johnston, Wayne | 46 min |
| May 15, 5:38 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Nash, Wilson | 52 min |
| May 15, 7:42 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin | 48 min |
| May 15, 7:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Cabarrus | 54 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, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 145 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
- 24 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -114 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 532 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 60 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 55 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 1:07 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Burke, Columbia, Elbert, Glascock, Hart, Lincoln and 4 more | 113 min |
| May 15, 2:27 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Chatham, Columbia and 11 more | 7 hr |
| May 15, 5:38 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brantley, Camden, Charlton | 97 min |
| May 15, 6:30 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Chatham, Columbia and 16 more | 90 min |
| May 15, 2:08 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Burke, Caldwell, Caswell and 21 more | 67 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Carolina, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in South Carolina, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Georgia, 2012Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2012
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.