Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2022

Tornado Watch 86

March 31, 202215 counties in North Carolina; 16 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 31, 2022, 12:50 PM EDT for 15 counties in North Carolina; 16 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 31, 2022, 12:50 PM EDT (16:50 UTC)
Expired
Mar 31, 2022, 6:02 PM EDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
0.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 31 counties

Anson County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Lee County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Union County, NC, Bamberg County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Florence County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Horry County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lee County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 123 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:52 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
40%
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
50%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 31, 12:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEFairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Richland25 min
Mar 31, 1:22 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHCumberland, Johnston, Sampson23 min
Mar 31, 1:25 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHAnson, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Stanly20 min
Mar 31, 1:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEChesterfield, Kershaw, Lancaster50 min
Mar 31, 1:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAnson, Montgomery, Moore, Richmond, Stanly48 min
Mar 31, 1:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHCumberland, Harnett, Johnston, Sampson17 min
Mar 31, 3:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham, Durham, Harnett, Lee, Orange, Wake29 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 203 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2022-03-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2022-03-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 278 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
863 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
278 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
342 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 31, 2:29 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCherokee2 hr
Mar 31, 11:43 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Chatham, Davidson, Gaston and 11 more92 min
Mar 31, 2:11 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnson, Chatham, Cumberland, Durham, Franklin, Halifax and 12 more2 hr
Mar 31, 2:25 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlamance, Beaufort, Bertie, Carteret, Chatham, Craven and 29 more8 hr
Mar 31, 6:19 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBertie, Chowan, Duplin, Edgecombe, Franklin, Gates and 15 more116 min
Mar 31, 7:58 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Carteret, Craven, Dare, Hyde, Pamlico2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2022Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2022Every tornado watch in 2022

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.