Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Watches in 2017
Tornado Watch 196
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 5, 2017, 6:25 AM EDT for 15 counties in North Carolina; 25 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 5, 2017, 6:25 AM EDT (10:25 UTC)
- Expired
- May 5, 2017, 11:03 AM EDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 40 counties
Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Camden County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Gates County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Martin County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC, Charles City County, VA, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Hampton, VA, City of Hopewell, VA, City of Newport News, VA, City of Norfolk, VA, City of Poquoson, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, City of Williamsburg, VA, Gloucester County, VA, Greensville County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, James City County, VA, Mathews County, VA, New Kent County, VA, Northampton County, VA, Prince George County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, York County, VA
The radar
The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:27 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
- 30%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 10%
- 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
- 60%
Warnings issued inside it
18 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 6:28 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Craven, Jones, Pitt | 32 min |
| May 5, 6:38 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Northampton | 52 min |
| May 5, 6:52 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Bertie | 23 min |
| May 5, 6:54 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Martin | 21 min |
| May 5, 7:03 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Craven, Pitt | 42 min |
| May 5, 7:13 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Bertie, Chowan | 32 min |
| May 5, 7:20 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Henrico, James City and 9 more | 40 min |
| May 5, 7:30 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Martin, Washington | 30 min |
| May 5, 7:34 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Bertie | 26 min |
| May 5, 7:39 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Caroline, Essex, Hanover, Henrico, King and Queen, King William and 4 more | 51 min |
| May 5, 7:44 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Martin, Washington | 6 min |
| May 5, 7:54 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Charles City, Essex, Gloucester, Henrico, James City, King and Queen and 9 more | 51 min |
| May 5, 8:02 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Camden, Currituck, Pasquotank | 28 min |
| May 5, 8:08 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Camden, Gates, Pasquotank | 52 min |
| May 5, 8:26 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | City of Virginia Beach | 34 min |
| May 5, 8:29 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Pasquotank, Perquimans | 46 min |
| May 5, 8:40 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Essex, Gloucester, James City, King and Queen, Lancaster, Mathews and 5 more | 50 min |
| May 5, 9:00 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Camden, Currituck, Pasquotank, Perquimans | 60 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
Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 00:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 144 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 876 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 57 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 219 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 359 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted.
651 WWUS20 KWNS 051020 SEL6 SPC WW 051020 NCZ000-VAZ000-CWZ000-051700- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 196 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 620 AM EDT Fri May 5 2017 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of northeastern North Carolina southeastern Virginia Coastal Waters * Effective this Friday morning and afternoon from 620 AM until 100 PM EDT. * Primary threats include... A couple tornadoes possible Isolated damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible SUMMARY...An evolving band of thunderstorms, as well as isolated supercells, are expected to overspread the area through mid morning, accompanied by locally damaging wind gusts and perhaps a couple of tornadoes. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 50 statute miles east and west of a line from 45 miles north of Norfolk VA to 25 miles south of Elizabeth City NC. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU6). 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 195... AVIATION...Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to 0.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 400. Mean storm motion vector 21035. ...Kerr
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 8:49 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland and 13 more | 6 hr |
| May 4, 11:24 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, Greene, Jones and 7 more | 66 min |
| May 5, 2:28 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Camden, Caswell and 43 more | 92 min |
| May 5, 3:09 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Chatham and 37 more | 6 hr |
| May 5, 5:56 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare and 12 more | 94 min |
| May 5, 8:27 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 9 more | 93 min |
| May 5, 6:15 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Halifax, Hertford, Northampton | 90 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2017Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2017Every tornado 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.