Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Watches in 2021
Tornado Watch 43
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 18, 2021, 5:09 PM EDT for 9 counties in North Carolina; 17 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 18, 2021, 5:09 PM EDT (21:09 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 18, 2021, 11:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 55 kt
All 26 counties
Bertie County, NC, Camden County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Gates County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans 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 Portsmouth, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, Greensville County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, Lunenburg County, VA, Mecklenburg County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA
The radar
The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 34 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:09 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
- 30%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 20%
- 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
- 10%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 40%
Warnings issued inside it
14 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 18, 5:11 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Southampton, Sussex | 34 min |
| Mar 18, 5:18 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Northampton | 27 min |
| Mar 18, 5:31 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Greensville, Southampton, Sussex | 29 min |
| Mar 18, 5:37 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Isle of Wight, Southampton, Surry | 38 min |
| Mar 18, 5:48 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Southampton, Sussex | 27 min |
| Mar 18, 6:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Isle of Wight, York, City of Hampton, City of Newport News, City of Poquoson | 45 min |
| Mar 18, 6:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Isle of Wight, Southampton | 28 min |
| Mar 18, 7:28 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Prince George, Surry, Sussex | 47 min |
| Mar 18, 7:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Brunswick, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, City of Emporia | 30 min |
| Mar 18, 7:59 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Brunswick, Greensville, Mecklenburg | 31 min |
| Mar 18, 8:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Charles City, James City, Prince George, Surry, City of Williamsburg | 42 min |
| Mar 18, 8:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Northampton | 30 min |
| Mar 18, 8:28 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | Greensville, Southampton, Sussex, City of Emporia | 32 min |
| Mar 18, 10:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AKQ | City of Norfolk, City of Portsmouth, City of Virginia Beach | 25 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 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 208 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
- 535 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 207 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 300 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted.
614 WWUS20 KWNS 182103 SEL3 SPC WW 182103 NCZ000-VAZ000-CWZ000-190100- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 43 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 505 PM EDT Thu Mar 18 2021 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 505 PM until 900 PM EDT. * Primary threats include... A couple intense tornadoes possible Isolated damaging wind gusts to 65 mph possible SUMMARY...A supercell or two may develop along the North Carolina and Virginia border within a favorable tornado environment. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 40 statute miles north and south of a line from 20 miles northwest of Roanoke Rapids NC to 20 miles north northeast of Elizabeth City 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 40...WW 41...WW 42... AVIATION...Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to 1 inch. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 55 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 450. Mean storm motion vector 24035. ...Grams
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 18, 10:34 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan and 1 more | 2 hr |
| Mar 18, 2:08 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Union | 4 hr |
| Mar 18, 3:10 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rutherford and 2 more | 3 hr |
| Mar 18, 4:45 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Chatham, Cumberland, Davidson, Durham and 20 more | 4 hr |
| Mar 18, 5:57 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Cabarrus, Camden and 45 more | 63 min |
| Mar 18, 7:49 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Chatham, Cumberland, Durham, Edgecombe and 21 more | 56 min |
| Mar 18, 2:25 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bland, Buchanan, Dickenson, Russell, Tazewell, Washington and 2 more | 3 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2021Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2021Every tornado 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.