Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2021
Tornado Watch 9
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 16, 2021, 12:41 AM EST for 12 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 16, 2021, 12:41 AM EST (05:41 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 16, 2021, 3:35 AM EST
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Beaufort County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Craven County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC
The radar
The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 25 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:42 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
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 20%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 5%
- 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
- 30%
Warnings issued inside it
2 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 16, 12:56 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | MHX | Duplin, Jones, Onslow | 3 hr |
| Feb 16, 3:18 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Dare | 27 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 00:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 25 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
- 456 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 62 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 241 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 300 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted.
746 WWUS20 KWNS 160536 SEL9 SPC WW 160536 NCZ000-CWZ000-161300- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 9 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 1240 AM EST Tue Feb 16 2021 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of Eastern North Carolina Coastal Waters * Effective this Tuesday morning from 1240 AM until 800 AM EST. * Primary threats include... A couple tornadoes possible Isolated damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible SUMMARY...A few supercells may develop and quickly move northeastward across coastal North Carolina overnight as the air mass steadily moistens and destabilizes near the coast. A tornado or two could occur along with damaging winds. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 60 statute miles east and west of a line from 35 miles south southeast of Jacksonville NC to 50 miles north northwest of Cape Hatteras NC. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU9). 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. && 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 450. Mean storm motion vector 24035. ...Guyer
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 16, 12:11 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Carteret, Dare, Hyde, Onslow, Pamlico | 64 min |
Nearby
Tornado 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.