Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2020
Tornado Watch 30
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 6, 2020, 12:41 PM EST for 34 counties in North Carolina; 20 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 6, 2020, 12:41 PM EST (17:41 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 6, 2020, 7:00 PM EST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 54 counties
Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Camden County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Durham County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Gates County, NC, Granville County, NC, Greene County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Martin County, NC, Nash County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Brunswick County, VA, City of Chesapeake, VA, City of Emporia, VA, City of Franklin, VA, City of Hampton, 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, Greensville County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, James City County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, York County, VA
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:40 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
- 50%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 20%
- 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
- 60%
Warnings issued inside it
15 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 6, 12:52 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Durham, Orange, Person | 23 min |
| Feb 6, 12:59 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Durham, Granville, Orange, Person, Wake | 46 min |
| Feb 6, 1:28 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin, Halifax, Nash, Vance, Wake, Warren | 62 min |
| Feb 6, 1:48 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Harnett, Lee and 2 more | 57 min |
| Feb 6, 2:17 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin, Granville, Halifax, Johnston, Nash, Vance and 2 more | 43 min |
| Feb 6, 2:30 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Franklin, Nash | 13 min |
| Feb 6, 2:48 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Halifax, Nash, Wilson | 57 min |
| Feb 6, 3:24 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Hertford and 3 more | 51 min |
| Feb 6, 3:25 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Anson, Montgomery, Moore, Richmond, Scotland, Stanly | 36 min |
| Feb 6, 3:26 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Isle of Wight, York, City of Chesapeake, City of Hampton, City of Newport News, City of Norfolk and 4 more | 49 min |
| Feb 6, 4:05 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Currituck | 40 min |
| Feb 6, 4:05 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Pasquotank and 1 more | 40 min |
| Feb 6, 4:34 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | RAH | Wake | 3 hr |
| Feb 6, 5:28 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Cumberland, Hoke, Scotland | 47 min |
| Feb 6, 5:39 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | RAH | Cumberland | 3 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
Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 168 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
- 34 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -18 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 605 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 61 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 219 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 293 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted.
418 WWUS20 KWNS 061738 SEL0 SPC WW 061738 NCZ000-VAZ000-CWZ000-070000- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 30 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 1240 PM EST Thu Feb 6 2020 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of Northeast North Carolina Southeast Virginia Coastal Waters * Effective this Thursday afternoon and evening from 1240 PM until 700 PM EST. * Primary threats include... A couple tornadoes possible Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible SUMMARY...Fast-moving thunderstorms over central North Carolina will track across the watch area this afternoon, posing a risk of damaging wind gusts as isolated tornadoes. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 55 statute miles north and south of a line from 15 miles southwest of Raleigh NC to 30 miles east northeast of Elizabeth City NC. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU0). 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 26...WW 27...WW 28...WW 29... 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 24040. ...Hart
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 6, 9:50 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anson, Cabarrus, Catawba, Chatham, Cleveland, Davidson and 13 more | 55 min |
| Feb 6, 10:12 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Catawba, Chatham, Cleveland and 20 more | 7 hr |
| Feb 6, 11:01 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Caswell, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry, Yadkin | 2 hr |
| Feb 6, 11:55 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Edgecombe, Franklin and 16 more | 65 min |
| Feb 6, 1:08 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anson, Chatham, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Moore and 3 more | 97 min |
| Feb 6, 4:00 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Duplin and 5 more | 60 min |
| Feb 6, 4:23 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 15 more | 9 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2020Tornado Watches in Virginia, 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.