Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2023
Tornado Watch 14
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 4, 2023, 11:19 AM EST for 10 counties in North Carolina; 8 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 4 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jan 4, 2023, 11:19 AM EST (16:19 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 4, 2023, 3:04 PM EST
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Hoke County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Pender County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Florence County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Horry County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC
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
- 10%
- 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
2 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 4, 12:40 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Cumberland, Harnett, Johnston, Sampson | 38 min |
| Jan 4, 1:29 PM EST | Tornado Warning | ILM | Horry | 31 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
Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 160 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
- 463 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -44 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 555 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 43 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 131 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 181 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.9
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 4, 10:21 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, New Hanover, Onslow and 2 more | 114 min |
| Jan 4, 12:52 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Pender, Sampson | 113 min |
| Jan 4, 1:10 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Carteret, Chowan, Craven, Duplin and 20 more | 95 min |
| Jan 4, 8:36 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley and 18 more | 9 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2023Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2023Every tornado watch in 2023
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.