Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2025
Tornado Watch 26
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 5, 2025, 7:47 AM EST for 48 counties in North Carolina; 25 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 5, 2025, 7:47 AM EST (12:47 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 5, 2025, 3:00 PM EST
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 73 counties
Alamance County, NC, Anson County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Davie County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Durham County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Granville County, NC, Greene County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Lee County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Nash County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Orange County, NC, Pender County, NC, Person County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Stokes County, NC, Union County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Berkeley County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Charleston County, SC, Chester County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Colleton County, SC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Florence County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Horry County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Richland County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC, York County, SC
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:48 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
- 60%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 10%
- 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
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
32 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 7:54 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Stokes, Surry, Yadkin | 36 min |
| Mar 5, 7:56 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Davidson, Forsyth | 64 min |
| Mar 5, 7:58 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Chesterfield, Lancaster | 47 min |
| Mar 5, 7:59 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Davie, Iredell, Rowan | 31 min |
| Mar 5, 8:08 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Cabarrus, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Union | 52 min |
| Mar 5, 8:17 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Forsyth | 28 min |
| Mar 5, 8:25 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Stokes | 35 min |
| Mar 5, 8:31 AM EST | Tornado Warning | GSP | Union | 29 min |
| Mar 5, 8:39 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Anson, Davidson, Montgomery, Randolph, Richmond, Stanly | 51 min |
| Mar 5, 8:39 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Caswell, Rockingham, Stokes | 66 min |
| Mar 5, 8:40 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Davidson, Forsyth, Guilford, Randolph | 65 min |
| Mar 5, 9:28 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Stanly | 62 min |
| Mar 5, 9:32 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Caswell, Rockingham | 58 min |
| Mar 5, 9:35 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Alamance, Guilford, Randolph | 55 min |
| Mar 5, 10:05 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Chatham, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph | 40 min |
| Mar 5, 10:22 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Alamance, Chatham, Durham, Orange, Person | 53 min |
| Mar 5, 10:58 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Moore, Richmond and 1 more | 62 min |
| Mar 5, 11:01 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Orange, Person and 2 more | 74 min |
| Mar 5, 11:56 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Granville, Vance | 17 min |
| Mar 5, 12:02 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin, Vance, Warren | 43 min |
| Mar 5, 12:06 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Durham, Franklin, Granville, Wake, Warren | 69 min |
| Mar 5, 12:12 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Wake | 22 min |
| Mar 5, 12:51 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin, Halifax, Vance, Warren | 39 min |
| Mar 5, 1:04 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin, Harnett, Johnston, Nash, Wake | 56 min |
| Mar 5, 1:26 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin, Halifax, Warren | 64 min |
| Mar 5, 1:34 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Halifax, Nash | 71 min |
| Mar 5, 1:48 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Johnston, Wayne, Wilson | 72 min |
| Mar 5, 2:06 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Duplin, Lenoir | 39 min |
| Mar 5, 2:27 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Greene, Lenoir, Martin, Pitt | 63 min |
| Mar 5, 2:40 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Halifax, Nash | 64 min |
| Mar 5, 2:42 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Duplin, Jones, Lenoir, Onslow | 63 min |
| Mar 5, 2:54 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Wilson | 51 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, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 145 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
- 6 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -34 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 640 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 255 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 364 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 4, 10:26 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattahoochee, Chattooga and 45 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 4, 11:28 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Decatur, Early, Grady and 3 more | 62 min |
| Mar 5, 12:05 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Decatur, Dougherty, Early and 7 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 5, 12:36 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bartow, Carroll, Chattahoochee, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb and 21 more | 114 min |
| Mar 5, 2:35 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Barrow, Bibb, Brooks, Butts, Calhoun and 48 more | 3 hr |
| Mar 5, 3:19 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley and 47 more | 8 hr |
| Mar 5, 7:22 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anson, Bladen, Cabarrus, Chatham, Columbus, Cumberland and 15 more | 2 hr |
| Mar 5, 10:35 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden and 48 more | 85 min |
| Mar 5, 12:26 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 32 more | 7 hr |
| Mar 5, 2:23 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret and 29 more | 97 min |
| Mar 5, 4:30 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 10 more | 90 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2025Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2025Every tornado watch in 2025
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.