Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2016

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 140

May 3, 201646 counties in North Carolina; 27 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 3, 2016, 2:52 PM EDT for 46 counties in North Carolina; 27 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 3, 2016, 2:52 PM EDT (18:52 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 2016, 11:00 PM EDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 73 counties

Alamance County, NC, Anson County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Catawba County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Columbus 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, Hoke County, NC, Iredell County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Lee County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Nash County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Orange County, NC, Pender County, NC, Person County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Union County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Aiken County, SC, Bamberg County, SC, Barnwell County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Chester County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Edgefield County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Florence County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Horry County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Richland County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC, York County, SC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 145 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:55 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
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 3:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEAiken, Barnwell64 min
May 3, 4:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAlamance, Chatham, Guilford, Randolph34 min
May 3, 4:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Pender61 min
May 3, 4:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBladen, Columbus, Robeson62 min
May 3, 4:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAlamance, Chatham, Orange46 min
May 3, 4:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMecklenburg, Union45 min
May 3, 5:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham, Durham, Orange, Wake40 min
May 3, 5:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBladen, Brunswick, Columbus61 min
May 3, 5:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPBurke, Catawba, Lincoln41 min
May 3, 5:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAnson, Montgomery, Richmond39 min
May 3, 5:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWake49 min
May 3, 6:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEAiken, Lexington41 min
May 3, 6:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCatawba, Iredell, Lincoln50 min
May 3, 6:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBrunswick, Columbus23 min
May 3, 6:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHRichmond, Scotland44 min
May 3, 6:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston, Wake55 min
May 3, 7:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPIredell, Rowan53 min
May 3, 7:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWayne, Wilson53 min
May 3, 7:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBrunswick, New Hanover26 min
May 3, 7:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBladen, Robeson52 min
May 3, 7:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHCumberland, Hoke35 min
May 3, 7:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDavidson, Montgomery, Randolph, Stanly66 min
May 3, 7:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPRowan33 min
May 3, 8:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHCumberland45 min
May 3, 8:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston, Wayne, Wilson49 min
May 3, 8:13 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBladen47 min
May 3, 8:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHMoore, Randolph46 min
May 3, 8:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHSampson26 min
May 3, 8:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMPender65 min
May 3, 8:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHalifax31 min
May 3, 9:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHarnett, Lee, Wake52 min
May 3, 10:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHarnett, Johnston, Sampson57 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, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 97 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2016-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 32 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2016-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 27 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
32 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
535 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
67 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 1:57 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Alexander, Anson, Cabarrus, Caswell, Catawba and 35 more3 hr
May 3, 5:58 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 24 more62 min
May 3, 6:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 18 more4 hr
May 3, 3:07 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAiken, Allendale, Barnwell, Edgefield, McCormick83 min
May 3, 4:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAllendale, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester and 2 more8 hr
May 3, 6:39 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllendale, Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Hampton and 1 more96 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Carolina, 2016Severe Thunderstorm Watches in South Carolina, 2016Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2016

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.