Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings
Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 2009
86 tornado warnings in 2009. An alert counts here when it covered any part of the state, so the counties below add up to more than the state. The archive of tornado warnings reaches back to 1986.
Tornado Warnings by county
Each county as a circle sized by its count in 2009. Tap one for its archive.
- Tornado Warnings
- 86
- Busiest month
- May29 tornado warnings
- Busiest day
- April 6, 200913 tornado warnings
Over time
By month
Warning verification
How often warnings here had a storm report inside them, and how much warning the reports had.
22 of 86 tornado warnings covering North Carolina in 2009 had a tornado report inside them; 38 of 49 tornado reports fell inside a warning, on average 22 minutes after it went out.
North Carolina, 2009
| Warnings | With a report | False alarm ratio | Reports | Inside a warning | Mean lead time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado warnings | 86 | 22 | 74% | 49 | 78% | 22 min |
Each office's whole area, 2009
| Warnings | With a report | False alarm ratio | Reports | Inside a warning | Mean lead time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWS Blacksburg, VA: tornado warnings | 19 | 1 | 95% | 9 | 11% | 4 min |
| NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC: tornado warnings | 33 | 8 | 76% | 15 | 93% | 21 min |
| NWS Wakefield, VA: tornado warnings | 35 | 3 | 91% | 9 | 44% | 10 min |
| NWS Morristown, TN: tornado warnings | 41 | 11 | 73% | 14 | 93% | 22 min |
| NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC: tornado warnings | 33 | 9 | 73% | 18 | 78% | 22 min |
| NWS Raleigh, NC: tornado warnings | 24 | 9 | 63% | 18 | 94% | 21 min |
| NWS Wilmington, NC: tornado warnings | 8 | 1 | 88% | 3 | 33% | 8 min |
An office's figures cover every county it serves, including across state lines.
Verified by the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow, which matches each storm-based warning with the local storm reports inside its polygon while it was in force, within 15 km of its edge: a tornado warning counts as verified on a tornado report, a severe thunderstorm warning on hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more, or wind damage, a flash flood warning on a flash flood report. The false alarm ratio is the share of warnings with no such report; "inside a warning" is the probability of detection, the share of reports that fell inside one; lead time runs from the warning's issue to each report inside it, counting zero for a report that came first. A warning with no report is not proof nothing happened: reports come from spotters, the public and damage surveys, and are thin where few people live.
The alerts
Every alert, in the order issued. Times are local, Eastern Time. Each opens its own page with the text, the map, the radar and the sounding.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 27, 5:05 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Cumberland | 25 min |
| Mar 27, 5:08 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Cumberland, Sampson | 37 min |
| Mar 27, 5:28 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Cumberland | 47 min |
| Mar 27, 5:43 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Cumberland, Sampson | 32 min |
| Mar 27, 5:51 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Greene | 24 min |
| Mar 27, 5:56 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Pitt | 49 min |
| Mar 27, 6:12 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Greene, Pitt | 48 min |
| Mar 27, 6:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Cumberland, Harnett, Johnston, Sampson | 51 min |
| Mar 27, 6:15 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Johnston, Sampson, Wayne | 45 min |
| Mar 27, 6:56 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Johnston | 49 min |
| Mar 27, 6:59 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Pitt | 16 min |
| Mar 27, 7:16 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Johnston, Wake | 31 min |
| Mar 28, 9:33 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Bladen | 20 min |
| Mar 28, 9:39 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Sampson | 51 min |
| Mar 28, 9:48 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Sampson | 42 min |
| Mar 28, 10:03 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Duplin | 42 min |
| Mar 28, 10:23 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Duplin | 17 min |
| Apr 6, 9:42 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Northampton | 33 min |
| Apr 6, 10:08 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Hertford | 37 min |
| Apr 6, 10:10 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Halifax, Nash | 32 min |
| Apr 6, 10:27 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Bertie, Hertford, Northampton | 33 min |
| Apr 6, 10:32 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Bladen, Columbus | 28 min |
| Apr 6, 11:00 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Gates, Hertford | 30 min |
| Apr 6, 11:24 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Camden, Gates, Pasquotank | 36 min |
| Apr 6, 11:26 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Greene, Lenoir, Pitt | 49 min |
| Apr 6, 11:35 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Martin | 25 min |
| Apr 6, 11:47 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Bertie | 28 min |
| Apr 6, 11:51 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Brunswick | 24 min |
| Apr 6, 11:56 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Martin, Pitt, Washington | 49 min |
| Apr 6, 12:27 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Martin, Tyrrell, Washington | 48 min |
| Apr 10, 5:15 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MRX | Cherokee, Clay | 60 min |
| Apr 20, 5:55 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Martin, Washington | 35 min |
| May 3, 8:56 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Caswell, Rockingham | 49 min |
| May 5, 3:30 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Duplin, Lenoir | 45 min |
| May 5, 3:39 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Wayne | 36 min |
| May 5, 4:09 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Craven, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, Pitt | 51 min |
| May 5, 4:12 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Johnston, Nash, Wilson | 48 min |
| May 5, 4:55 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Craven, Lenoir, Pitt | 50 min |
| May 5, 4:58 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Nash, Wilson | 18 min |
| May 5, 5:28 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Johnston, Nash, Wilson | 47 min |
| May 5, 5:40 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Martin, Pitt | 22 min |
| May 5, 5:41 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Chatham, Durham, Wake | 49 min |
| May 5, 5:50 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Cabarrus, Mecklenburg, Union | 40 min |
| May 5, 6:10 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Nash, Wilson | 26 min |
| May 5, 6:29 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Wake | 46 min |
| May 5, 7:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Franklin, Wake | 26 min |
| May 6, 10:05 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Transylvania | 40 min |
| May 6, 10:44 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Buncombe, Henderson, McDowell, Yancey | 46 min |
| May 6, 3:09 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Catawba, Lincoln | 21 min |
| May 6, 4:19 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Cleveland | 41 min |
| May 6, 5:03 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Catawba, Iredell | 42 min |
| May 6, 5:36 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Davie, Iredell, Rowan | 39 min |
| May 6, 5:57 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Davidson, Forsyth | 48 min |
| May 6, 6:06 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Davie, Rowan | 25 min |
| May 7, 5:11 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Duplin | 49 min |
| May 7, 5:31 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Craven, Lenoir, Pitt | 44 min |
| May 7, 6:11 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Craven, Pamlico | 49 min |
| May 7, 6:33 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Onslow | 42 min |
| May 7, 6:42 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Craven, Greene, Lenoir, Pitt | 63 min |
| May 7, 6:53 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Craven, Pamlico | 52 min |
| May 7, 7:36 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Craven, Pamlico | 41 min |
| Jun 15, 7:21 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Bladen, Columbus | 39 min |
| Jun 16, 5:50 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln | 40 min |
| Jun 16, 6:29 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Cleveland, Gaston | 40 min |
| Jun 16, 8:33 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Ashe | 42 min |
| Jun 17, 8:59 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Buncombe, Henderson, Polk | 61 min |
| Jun 17, 9:14 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Buncombe, Henderson, Polk | 31 min |
| Jun 17, 3:19 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Ashe | 26 min |
| Jun 17, 3:45 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Ashe, Wilkes | 30 min |
| Jul 12, 6:03 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Caswell | 27 min |
| Jul 17, 5:03 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort | 42 min |
| Jul 17, 5:43 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Hyde | 47 min |
| Jul 17, 6:33 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Harnett, Johnston | 27 min |
| Jul 17, 6:44 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Harnett, Johnston | 16 min |
| Jul 17, 8:02 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Hyde, Washington | 43 min |
| Jul 17, 8:41 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Hyde, Tyrrell | 49 min |
| Jul 25, 8:10 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Wayne | 35 min |
| Jul 25, 8:37 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Greene | 23 min |
| Jul 27, 5:28 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Sampson | 32 min |
| Aug 2, 2:36 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Craven, Jones | 29 min |
| Aug 12, 4:00 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Carteret | 28 min |
| Sep 27, 3:55 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Dare | 50 min |
| Dec 2, 10:14 PM EST | Tornado Warning | ILM | Pender | 31 min |
| Dec 2, 10:24 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MHX | Duplin, Lenoir | 51 min |
| Dec 2, 11:49 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MHX | Dare, Hyde, Tyrrell | 26 min |
| Dec 9, 2:51 AM EST | Tornado Warning | MHX | Duplin | 39 min |
By county
Every county with at least one alert. A county page lists each alert that covered it.
- Beaufort County12
- Pitt County10
- Johnston County8
- Craven County8
- Sampson County7
- Lenoir County7
- Greene County6
- Duplin County6
- Cumberland County5
- Nash County5
- Martin County5
- Wake County4
- Washington County4
- Wilson County4
- Buncombe County4
- Henderson County4
- Hyde County4
- Harnett County3
- Wayne County3
- Bladen County3
- Hertford County3
- Edgecombe County3
- Tyrrell County3
- Cleveland County3
- Pamlico County3
- Ashe County3
- Northampton County2
- Bertie County2
- Columbus County2
- Gates County2
- Caswell County2
- Jones County2
- Catawba County2
- Lincoln County2
- Iredell County2
- Davie County2
- Rowan County2
- Gaston County2
- Polk County2
- Dare County2
23 more counties
- Halifax County1
- Camden County1
- Pasquotank County1
- Brunswick County1
- Cherokee County1
- Clay County1
- Rockingham County1
- Chatham County1
- Durham County1
- Cabarrus County1
- Mecklenburg County1
- Union County1
- Franklin County1
- Haywood County1
- Transylvania County1
- McDowell County1
- Yancey County1
- Davidson County1
- Forsyth County1
- Onslow County1
- Wilkes County1
- Carteret County1
- Pender County1
The busiest days
Days with the most alerts issued, by UTC date.
Nearby
Alerts in force nowTornadoes on recordThe radar archive20082010
Sources
National Weather Service watches, warnings, advisories and statements from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's VTEC archive, which reconstructs tornado, severe thunderstorm, flash flood and marine warnings back to 1986 from the NWS text archive. Storm Prediction Center watches and mesoscale discussions from SPC's archive through the Mesonet. County centers from the US Census Bureau. Warning verification from the Mesonet's Cow. Rebuilt daily.