Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2019

Tornado Watch 72

April 14, 201943 counties in North Carolina; 6 counties in South Carolina; 25 counties in Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 14, 2019, 10:14 PM EDT for 43 counties in North Carolina; 6 counties in South Carolina; 25 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 14, 2019, 10:14 PM EDT (02:14 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 2019, 4:27 AM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
0.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 74 counties

Alamance County, NC, Alexander County, NC, Alleghany County, NC, Anson County, NC, Burke County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Catawba County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Davie County, NC, Durham County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Gaston County, NC, Granville County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Iredell County, NC, Lee County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, McDowell County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Orange County, NC, Person County, NC, Polk County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Rutherford County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Stokes County, NC, Surry County, NC, Union County, NC, Wake County, NC, Wilkes County, NC, Yadkin County, NC, Cherokee County, SC, Chester County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC, Union County, SC, York County, SC, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Botetourt County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Carroll County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Danville, VA, City of Galax, VA, City of Lexington, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, City of Radford, VA, City of Roanoke, VA, City of Salem, VA, Floyd County, VA, Franklin County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Henry County, VA, Patrick County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Roanoke County, VA, Rockbridge County, VA

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:15 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
30%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
10%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
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
50%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 14, 10:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGreenville, Laurens, Spartanburg45 min
Apr 14, 10:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPBurke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland39 min
Apr 14, 10:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKBland, Craig, Floyd, Giles, Montgomery, Pulaski and 3 more78 min
Apr 14, 10:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAlleghany, Surry, Wilkes, Yadkin76 min
Apr 14, 11:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAlleghany, Bedford, Botetourt, Craig, Floyd, Franklin and 6 more66 min
Apr 14, 11:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCleveland, Gaston, Lincoln48 min
Apr 14, 11:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKStokes, Surry, Yadkin66 min
Apr 14, 11:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAmherst, Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell49 min
Apr 14, 11:44 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPGaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg31 min
Apr 15, 12:05 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAmherst, Botetourt, Rockbridge, City of Buena Vista, City of Lexington40 min
Apr 15, 12:15 AM EDTTornado WarningGSPDavie, Iredell, Rowan30 min
Apr 15, 12:23 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAppomattox, Buckingham33 min
Apr 15, 12:42 AM EDTTornado WarningRAHDavidson, Forsyth33 min
Apr 15, 1:06 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDavidson, Forsyth, Guilford, Randolph39 min
Apr 15, 1:08 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAmherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Campbell, Charlotte, Halifax and 2 more39 min
Apr 15, 1:16 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHarnett, Johnston, Wake44 min
Apr 15, 1:24 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHWake80 min
Apr 15, 1:24 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHFranklin, Wake51 min
Apr 15, 1:48 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHFranklin, Halifax, Nash, Wake42 min
Apr 15, 2:27 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham, Lee, Moore, Randolph33 min
Apr 15, 3:13 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHarnett, Lee14 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 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 00:00Z on 2019-04-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 558 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 00:00Z on 2019-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 278 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
558 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
847 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
71 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
278 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
329 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
8.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 14, 10:09 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Burke, Cabarrus and 26 more96 min
Apr 15, 12:07 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFranklin, Halifax, Nash, Northampton, Vance, Warren113 min
Apr 15, 12:41 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Edgecombe, Franklin and 11 more5 hr
Apr 15, 2:18 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 21 more117 min
Apr 15, 2:30 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCNorthampton60 min
Apr 14, 8:31 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlleghany, Bland, Craig, Giles, Montgomery, Pulaski and 5 more59 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2019Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2019Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2019Every tornado watch in 2019

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.