Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2017

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 211

May 11, 201721 counties in North Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 11, 2017, 7:46 PM EDT for 21 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 11, 2017, 7:46 PM EDT (23:46 UTC)
Expired
May 11, 2017, 11:00 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 21 counties

Alamance County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Durham County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Granville County, NC, Greene County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, Nash County, NC, Orange County, NC, Person County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 69 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:49 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
10%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
2%
Ten or more severe wind reports
50%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
50%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 11, 9:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDurham, Franklin, Granville, Orange, Wake56 min
May 11, 9:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXBeaufort, Martin, Pitt52 min
May 11, 9:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston, Nash, Wake, Wayne, Wilson37 min
May 11, 10:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXBeaufort, Hyde, Martin, Pamlico, Pitt44 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, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 76 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 2017-05-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 24 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 2017-05-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 63 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
24 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-253 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1391 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
149 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 11, 4:47 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Beaufort and 43 more2 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Carolina, 2017Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2017

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.