Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2025

Tornado Watch 28

March 5, 202538 counties in North Carolina; 18 counties in Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 5, 2025, 12:26 PM EST for 38 counties in North Carolina; 18 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 5, 2025, 12:26 PM EST (17:26 UTC)
Expired
Mar 5, 2025, 7:32 PM EST
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 56 counties

Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Camden County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Craven County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Gates County, NC, Greene County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, Nash County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, 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 Poquoson, VA, City of Portsmouth, VA, City of Suffolk, VA, City of Virginia Beach, VA, City of Williamsburg, VA, Greensville County, VA, Isle of Wight County, VA, James City County, VA, Southampton County, VA, Surry County, VA, Sussex County, VA, York County, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 120 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:24 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
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
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 5, 12:51 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHFranklin, Halifax, Vance, Warren39 min
Mar 5, 1:04 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHFranklin, Harnett, Johnston, Nash, Wake56 min
Mar 5, 1:07 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQBrunswick, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Sussex38 min
Mar 5, 1:26 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHFranklin, Halifax, Warren64 min
Mar 5, 1:34 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHEdgecombe, Halifax, Nash71 min
Mar 5, 1:43 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCharles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Henrico, James City, King and Queen and 8 more47 min
Mar 5, 1:48 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHEdgecombe, Johnston, Wayne, Wilson72 min
Mar 5, 1:55 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQNorthampton50 min
Mar 5, 2:06 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatMHXDuplin, Lenoir39 min
Mar 5, 2:27 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatMHXGreene, Lenoir, Martin, Pitt63 min
Mar 5, 2:32 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQHertford, Northampton43 min
Mar 5, 2:40 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHEdgecombe, Halifax, Nash64 min
Mar 5, 2:42 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatMHXDuplin, Jones, Lenoir, Onslow63 min
Mar 5, 2:44 PM ESTTornado WarningAKQSouthampton, Surry, Sussex31 min
Mar 5, 2:54 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHEdgecombe, Wilson51 min
Mar 5, 3:05 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQGates, Hertford55 min
Mar 5, 3:16 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatMHXBeaufort, Craven, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, Martin and 1 more74 min
Mar 5, 3:27 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCharles City, Gloucester, James City, King and Queen, King William, Lancaster and 5 more48 min
Mar 5, 3:44 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatAKQBertie, Gates, Hertford, Northampton46 min
Mar 5, 3:45 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatMHXBeaufort, Carteret, Craven, Jones, Onslow, Pamlico75 min
Mar 5, 3:47 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatAKQCity of Chesapeake, City of Hampton, City of Norfolk, City of Portsmouth, City of Suffolk, City of Virginia Beach43 min
Mar 5, 4:18 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatAKQBertie, Chowan, Gates, Hertford, Pasquotank, Perquimans42 min
Mar 5, 4:32 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCamden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Hertford, Pasquotank43 min
Mar 5, 5:00 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatMHXCarteret, Dare, Hyde, Pamlico75 min
Mar 5, 5:01 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCamden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Pasquotank, Perquimans44 min
Mar 5, 5:03 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCity of Chesapeake, City of Hampton, City of Newport News, City of Norfolk, City of Poquoson, City of Portsmouth and 2 more42 min
Mar 5, 6:15 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatMHXDare, Hyde45 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, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 185 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2025-03-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2025-03-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 300 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
840 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
300 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
351 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 5, 7:22 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnson, Bladen, Cabarrus, Chatham, Columbus, Cumberland and 15 more2 hr
Mar 5, 7:47 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCAlamance, Anson, Bladen, Brunswick, Cabarrus, Caswell and 42 more7 hr
Mar 5, 10:35 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden and 48 more85 min
Mar 5, 2:23 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret and 29 more97 min
Mar 5, 4:30 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 10 more90 min
Mar 5, 8:50 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAmelia, Appomattox, Brunswick, Buckingham, Campbell, Charles City and 24 more115 min
Mar 5, 10:27 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAccomack, Amelia, Brunswick, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield and 34 more8 hr
Mar 5, 1:02 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAccomack, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Essex, Gloucester and 19 more88 min
Mar 5, 2:19 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAugusta, Clarke, Frederick, Greene, Highland, Madison and 9 more116 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2025Tornado Watches in Virginia, 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.