Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2021

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 61

March 27, 202119 counties in North Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Mar 27, 2021, 5:29 PM EDT for 19 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 27, 2021, 5:29 PM EDT (21:29 UTC)
Expired
Mar 27, 2021, 10:00 PM EDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Anson County, NC, Beaufort County, NC, Craven County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Greene County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 69 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:30 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
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
20%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 27, 5:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHCumberland, Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Sampson and 1 more48 min
Mar 27, 6:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXGreene, Pitt70 min
Mar 27, 6:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXDuplin47 min
Mar 27, 6:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXCraven, Duplin, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, Pitt81 min
Mar 27, 6:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHSampson54 min
Mar 27, 6:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXDuplin48 min
Mar 27, 7:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHCumberland, Sampson69 min
Mar 27, 7:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXCraven, Duplin, Jones, Lenoir, Onslow76 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

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 69 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2021-03-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 132 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 2021-03-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 7 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
132 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-315 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1099 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

816 
WWUS20 KWNS 272126
SEL1  
SPC WW 272126
NCZ000-CWZ000-280200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 61
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
530 PM EDT Sat Mar 27 2021

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of 
  Eastern and southern North Carolina
  Coastal Waters

* Effective this Saturday afternoon and evening from 530 PM until
  1000 PM EDT.

* Primary threats include...
  Isolated damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible
  Isolated large hail events to 1.5 inches in diameter possible

SUMMARY...A cluster with embedded supercells should spread
east-southeast from central North Carolina before decaying across
eastern North Carolina later this evening.

The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 60
statute miles east and west of a line from 55 miles north northeast
of New Bern NC to 30 miles southeast of Fayetteville NC. For a
complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline
update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are
favorable for 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. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce
tornadoes.

&&

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 58...WW 59...WW 60...

AVIATION...A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to
1.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A
few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector
28035.

...Grams

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 27, 1:39 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Alexander, Anson, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell and 42 more66 min
Mar 27, 2:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell and 35 more6 hr
Mar 27, 4:49 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Caswell, Chatham, Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin and 19 more56 min
Mar 27, 7:53 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Carteret, Craven, Duplin, Greene, Hyde and 7 more97 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Carolina, 2021Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2021

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.