Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2014
Tornado Watch 25
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 21, 2014, 12:15 PM EST for 15 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 21, 2014, 12:15 PM EST (17:15 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 21, 2014, 4:55 PM EST
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 65 kt
Counties Beaufort County, NC, Carteret 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, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC
The radar
The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:15 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
- 80%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 30%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 10%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 90%
Warnings issued inside it
4 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 1:23 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Duplin, Greene, Lenoir, Martin, Pitt | 82 min |
| Feb 21, 2:04 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Craven, Duplin, Jones, Onslow | 86 min |
| Feb 21, 2:37 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Hyde, Martin, Pitt, Tyrrell, Washington | 53 min |
| Feb 21, 3:03 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Pamlico | 57 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, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 82 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
- 418 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -67 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 602 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 182 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 209 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
054
WWUS20 KWNS 211714
SEL5
SPC WW 211714
NCZ000-CWZ000-220000-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 25
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1215 PM EST FRI FEB 21 2014
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
COASTAL WATERS
* EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1215 PM UNTIL
700 PM EST.
* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
SEVERAL TORNADOES POSSIBLE
NUMEROUS DAMAGING WIND GUSTS LIKELY WITH A FEW SIGNIFICANT GUSTS
TO 75 MPH POSSIBLE
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 65 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 10 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF
ELIZABETH CITY NORTH CAROLINA TO 40 MILES EAST OF WILMINGTON
NORTH CAROLINA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU5).
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
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 22...WW 23...WW 24...
DISCUSSION...TSTMS NOW FORMING INVOF SUB-SYNOPTIC WAVE ALONG
PRE-FRONTAL SQLN OVER ERN SC AND THE NC SAND HILLS EXPECTED TO
MOVE/DEVELOP NE ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE NC CSTL PLN LATER THIS
AFTN. VERY STRONG SWLY MID/UPR-LVL FLOW...MODEST SFC HEATING...AND
CONVERGENCE ALONG EXISTING STORM OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES EXPECTED TO
SUPPORT EMBEDDED LEWPS/BOWS WITH AN ATTENDANT RISK FOR DMGG
WIND/POSSIBLE TORNADOES.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 65 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23050.
...CORFIDISPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 10:29 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Swain | 61 min |
| Feb 20, 10:47 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and 2 more | 6 hr |
| Feb 21, 3:11 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke and 14 more | 94 min |
| Feb 21, 8:57 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Bladen, Caswell, Chatham, Columbus, Cumberland and 22 more | 63 min |
| Feb 21, 10:02 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alamance, Bladen, Brunswick, Chatham, Columbus, Cumberland and 24 more | 6 hr |
| Feb 21, 10:39 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Hertford and 3 more | 5 hr |
| Feb 21, 11:05 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Carteret, Chowan, Columbus and 27 more | 55 min |
| Feb 21, 1:14 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan and 19 more | 61 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2014Every tornado watch in 2014
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.