Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2016
Tornado Watch 463
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 2, 2016, 3:45 PM EDT for 11 counties in North Carolina; 5 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 11 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 2, 2016, 3:45 PM EDT (19:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 3, 2016, 3:00 AM EDT
- In force
- 11 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Brunswick County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Craven County, NC, Dare County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Jones County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pender County, NC, Florence County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Horry County, SC, Marion County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC
The radar
The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:44 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
- 20%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 5%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 5%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 50%
Warnings issued inside it
11 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2, 3:56 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | ILM | Brunswick, New Hanover, Pender | 6 hr |
| Sep 2, 6:00 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | ILM | Brunswick, Columbus | 3 hr |
| Sep 2, 7:31 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | ILM | Bladen, Pender | 4 hr |
| Sep 2, 8:43 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | MHX | Duplin, Onslow | 92 min |
| Sep 2, 9:05 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Carteret | 25 min |
| Sep 2, 9:29 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Carteret | 14 min |
| Sep 2, 9:50 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Carteret | 25 min |
| Sep 2, 9:58 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | MHX | Carteret | 92 min |
| Sep 3, 12:28 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | MHX | Dare, Hyde | 92 min |
| Sep 3, 12:52 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Dare | 23 min |
| Sep 3, 1:16 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Dare | 16 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, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 115 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
- 403 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -11 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 534 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 32 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 33 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 89 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 0.7
The text
As transmitted.
775 WWUS20 KWNS 021942 SEL3 SPC WW 021942 NCZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-030400- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 463 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 345 PM EDT FRI SEP 2 2016 THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF COASTAL NORTH CAROLINA NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA COASTAL WATERS * EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON FROM 345 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT. * PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE... A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE SUMMARY...AS TROPICAL STORM HERMINE CONTINUES ITS NORTHEASTWARD TRACK...CLUSTERS AND BANDS OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ASHORE ACROSS THE WATCH AREA THIS EVENING...POSING A THREAT OF A FEW TORNADOES AND PERHAPS DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 35 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF MYRTLE BEACH SOUTH CAROLINA TO 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF CAPE HATTERAS NORTH CAROLINA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3). 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 462... AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 18035. ...HART
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2, 7:51 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Brunswick, Columbus | 8 hr |
| Sep 2, 12:55 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Robeson | 2 hr |
| Sep 2, 3:29 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Dare, Hyde and 5 more | 3 hr |
| Sep 1, 10:01 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Jasper | 2 hr |
| Sep 1, 10:47 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Allendale, Beaufort, Hampton, Jasper | 9 hr |
| Sep 2, 12:45 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Allendale, Beaufort, Hampton, Jasper | 4 hr |
| Sep 2, 5:05 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown and 5 more | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2016Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2016Every tornado 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.