Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2020
Tornado Watch 113
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 12, 2020, 8:57 PM EDT for 8 counties in North Carolina; 5 counties in Tennessee. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 12, 2020, 8:57 PM EDT (00:57 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 13, 2020, 3:00 AM EDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Cherokee County, NC, Clay County, NC, Graham County, NC, Haywood County, NC, Jackson County, NC, Macon County, NC, Swain County, NC, Transylvania County, NC, Blount County, TN, Bradley County, TN, McMinn County, TN, Monroe County, TN, Polk County, TN
The radar
The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:59 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
- 50%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 60%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 10%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 20%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 80%
Warnings issued inside it
17 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 12, 9:37 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Cherokee | 53 min |
| Apr 12, 9:59 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MRX | Polk | 31 min |
| Apr 12, 10:28 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Monroe | 29 min |
| Apr 12, 11:16 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MRX | Hamilton, Polk | 29 min |
| Apr 12, 11:28 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MRX | Bradley, Polk | 32 min |
| Apr 12, 11:41 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Bradley, Hamilton, McMinn, Meigs, Polk | 49 min |
| Apr 12, 11:56 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MRX | Bradley, McMinn, Polk | 34 min |
| Apr 13, 12:13 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Cherokee, Clay | 62 min |
| Apr 13, 12:31 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Bradley, Polk | 44 min |
| Apr 13, 12:59 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | MRX | Bradley, Hamilton, Polk | 3 hr |
| Apr 13, 1:00 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Blount | 24 min |
| Apr 13, 1:14 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | MRX | Blount, Knox, Loudon, Monroe, Sevier | 3 hr |
| Apr 13, 1:28 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MRX | Cherokee, Clay | 47 min |
| Apr 13, 1:29 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Haywood, Transylvania | 6 hr |
| Apr 13, 1:29 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | MRX | Cherokee, Clay | 3 hr |
| Apr 13, 1:36 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | MRX | McMinn, Monroe | 3 hr |
| Apr 13, 1:58 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Jackson, Macon, Swain | 6 hr |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 238 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
- 404 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -107 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 804 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 70 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 733 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 874 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.3
- Supercell composite
- 10.8
The text
As transmitted.
902 WWUS20 KWNS 130054 SEL3 SPC WW 130054 GAZ000-NCZ000-TNZ000-130600- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 113 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 855 PM EDT Sun Apr 12 2020 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of Northeast Georgia Western North Carolina Southeast Tennessee * Effective this Sunday night and Monday morning from 855 PM until 200 AM EDT. * Primary threats include... A few tornadoes possible Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph likely Isolated large hail events to 1 inch in diameter possible SUMMARY...A small cluster of intense thunderstorms over north Georgia continues to track northeastward into the watch area. The strongest cells will pose a risk of damaging wind gusts and isolated tornadoes. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 25 statute miles north and south of a line from 130 miles west of Asheville NC to 5 miles south of Asheville NC. 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 106...WW 107...WW 108...WW 109...WW 110...WW 111...WW 112... AVIATION...Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to 1 inch. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector 24035. ...Hart
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 12, 8:41 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Macon, Transylvania | 64 min |
| Apr 12, 11:17 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alexander, Anson, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus and 31 more | 88 min |
| Apr 13, 1:51 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alexander, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland and 14 more | 6 hr |
| Apr 13, 2:39 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Chatham, Cumberland, Davidson and 21 more | 96 min |
| Apr 13, 4:40 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden and 51 more | 95 min |
| Apr 13, 5:01 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick and 53 more | 7 hr |
| Apr 13, 6:46 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Chowan, Columbus, Craven and 32 more | 89 min |
| Apr 13, 9:56 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Carteret, Dare, Hyde, Pamlico, Tyrrell, Washington | 64 min |
| Apr 12, 8:56 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Fayette, Lauderdale, Shelby, Tipton | 2 hr |
| Apr 12, 9:19 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Benton, Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer and 15 more | 4 hr |
| Apr 12, 10:44 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette and 10 more | 91 min |
| Apr 13, 12:19 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Benton, Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dickson and 21 more | 86 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2020Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 2020Every tornado watch in 2020
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.