Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2026
Tornado Watch 66
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 16, 2026, 8:54 AM EDT for 25 counties in North Carolina; 24 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 16, 2026, 8:54 AM EDT (12:54 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 16, 2026, 2:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 75 kt
All 49 counties
Alamance County, NC, Anson County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Durham County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Granville County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Lee County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Orange County, NC, Person County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Stokes County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Alleghany County, VA, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Bath County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Botetourt County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Covington, VA, City of Danville, VA, City of Lexington, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, City of Roanoke, VA, City of Salem, VA, Franklin County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Henry County, VA, Patrick County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Roanoke County, VA, Rockbridge County, VA
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:54 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
- 80%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 60%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 95%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 70%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 20%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 10%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 95%
Warnings issued inside it
16 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 16, 9:27 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Stokes, Surry, Wilkes, Yadkin | 63 min |
| Mar 16, 9:56 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Stokes | 34 min |
| Mar 16, 10:01 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Davidson, Forsyth, Guilford | 44 min |
| Mar 16, 10:04 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Rockingham, Stokes | 41 min |
| Mar 16, 10:13 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Davidson, Forsyth, Guilford | 32 min |
| Mar 16, 10:14 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Franklin, Henry, Patrick, City of Martinsville | 31 min |
| Mar 16, 10:19 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Anson, Davidson, Guilford, Montgomery, Randolph, Stanly | 41 min |
| Mar 16, 10:36 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Stanly | 24 min |
| Mar 16, 10:44 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Rockingham | 46 min |
| Mar 16, 10:44 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Rockingham | 31 min |
| Mar 16, 10:48 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Henry, Pittsylvania, City of Martinsville | 27 min |
| Mar 16, 10:55 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Alamance, Chatham, Guilford, Lee, Montgomery, Moore and 2 more | 35 min |
| Mar 16, 10:58 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Caswell, Rockingham | 32 min |
| Mar 16, 11:11 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Caswell, Rockingham | 64 min |
| Mar 16, 11:15 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Caswell | 30 min |
| Mar 16, 11:56 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Halifax | 64 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 15, 9:22 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cherokee, Clay | 9 hr |
| Mar 16, 3:37 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clay | 113 min |
| Mar 16, 4:21 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke and 19 more | 114 min |
| Mar 16, 4:36 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke and 28 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 16, 7:23 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland and 7 more | 97 min |
| Mar 16, 8:40 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Caswell, Chatham, Davidson and 23 more | 2 hr |
| Mar 16, 10:52 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Hertford and 3 more | 8 hr |
| Mar 16, 11:15 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus and 22 more | 90 min |
| Mar 16, 1:18 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 27 more | 7 hr |
| Mar 16, 2:00 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Halifax and 5 more | 90 min |
| Mar 16, 3:19 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret and 28 more | 116 min |
| Mar 16, 5:32 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Bertie, Bladen, Caswell, Chatham, Cumberland and 29 more | 118 min |
| Mar 16, 12:41 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Washington and 3 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 16, 10:03 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Albemarle, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Arlington, Augusta and 59 more | 2 hr |
| Mar 16, 11:35 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Amelia, Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell, Caroline, Charlotte and 15 more | 85 min |
| Mar 16, 6:13 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Boone, Braxton, Brooke, Calhoun, Clay and 34 more | 4 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2026Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2026Every tornado watch in 2026
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.