Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 2017

85 tornado warnings in 2017. 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 2017. Tap one for its archive.

Tornado Warnings
85
Busiest month
May42 tornado warnings
Busiest day
May 5, 201719 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.

15 of 85 tornado warnings covering North Carolina in 2017 had a tornado report inside them; 34 of 45 tornado reports fell inside a warning, on average 21 minutes after it went out.

North Carolina, 2017

WarningsWith a reportFalse alarm ratioReportsInside a warningMean lead time
Tornado warnings851582%4576%21 min

Each office's whole area, 2017

WarningsWith a reportFalse alarm ratioReportsInside a warningMean lead time
NWS Blacksburg, VA: tornado warnings17476%1258%17 min
NWS Morristown, TN: tornado warnings20100%0
NWS Wilmington, NC: tornado warnings19195%617%7 min
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC: tornado warnings351266%4693%19 min
NWS Wakefield, VA: tornado warnings35877%2568%14 min
NWS Raleigh, NC: tornado warnings18194%450%20 min
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC: tornado warnings18289%757%9 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 3, 5:32 AM ESTTornado WarningILMBladen26 min
Feb 15, 11:55 AM ESTTornado Warning Considerable damage threatILMBrunswick9 min
Mar 1, 4:40 PM ESTTornado WarningGSPBurke, Catawba35 min
Mar 1, 5:07 PM ESTTornado WarningGSPAlexander, Catawba, Iredell38 min
Mar 31, 6:08 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQBertie, Chowan, Gates, Hertford37 min
May 1, 5:51 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKCaswell, Rockingham24 min
May 5, 1:50 AM EDTTornado WarningGSPUnion25 min
May 5, 2:21 AM EDTTornado WarningRAHDavidson, Montgomery, Randolph39 min
May 5, 2:26 AM EDTTornado WarningRAHAnson, Montgomery, Richmond, Stanly40 min
May 5, 4:36 AM EDTTornado WarningILMNew Hanover, Pender24 min
May 5, 4:55 AM EDTTornado WarningILMBladen, Columbus20 min
May 5, 5:13 AM EDTTornado WarningILMPender32 min
May 5, 5:18 AM EDTTornado WarningMHXOnslow42 min
May 5, 5:29 AM EDTTornado WarningMHXCraven, Jones, Pitt31 min
May 5, 5:55 AM EDTTornado WarningMHXJones, Onslow35 min
May 5, 6:17 AM EDTTornado WarningMHXBeaufort, Martin, Pitt, Washington43 min
May 5, 6:28 AM EDTTornado WarningMHXBeaufort, Craven, Jones, Pitt32 min
May 5, 6:52 AM EDTTornado WarningAKQBertie23 min
May 5, 6:54 AM EDTTornado WarningMHXMartin21 min
May 5, 7:03 AM EDTTornado WarningMHXBeaufort, Craven, Pitt42 min
May 5, 7:13 AM EDTTornado WarningAKQBertie, Chowan32 min
May 5, 7:30 AM EDTTornado WarningMHXMartin, Washington30 min
May 5, 7:34 AM EDTTornado WarningAKQBertie26 min
May 5, 7:44 AM EDTTornado WarningMHXMartin, Washington6 min
May 5, 8:02 AM EDTTornado WarningAKQCamden, Currituck, Pasquotank28 min
May 23, 4:56 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHSampson34 min
May 23, 5:24 PM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedRAHSampson36 min
May 23, 5:41 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXDare, Tyrrell49 min
May 23, 5:42 PM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedMHXDuplin32 min
May 23, 5:52 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXDare38 min
May 24, 3:41 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPDavie, Iredell, Rowan34 min
May 24, 4:08 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHForsyth52 min
May 24, 4:12 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPDavie, Iredell18 min
May 24, 4:15 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPAlexander, Iredell31 min
May 24, 4:16 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPUnion29 min
May 24, 4:18 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKYadkin27 min
May 24, 4:23 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPBurke, McDowell37 min
May 24, 4:33 PM EDTTornado WarningILMBladen, Robeson27 min
May 24, 4:42 PM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedRNKStokes, Surry, Yadkin33 min
May 24, 5:05 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHCumberland, Sampson40 min
May 24, 5:09 PM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedRNKStokes36 min
May 24, 5:30 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHJohnston, Sampson, Wayne45 min
May 24, 6:41 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHNash12 min
May 24, 7:22 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHEdgecombe23 min
May 24, 7:24 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXMartin36 min
May 24, 7:32 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHHalifax23 min
May 24, 7:33 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQBertie42 min
Jun 5, 5:39 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHEdgecombe, Nash13 min
Jun 5, 7:40 PM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedMHXMartin, Pitt50 min
Jun 24, 8:26 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXCraven19 min
Jul 10, 10:50 AM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedMHXDare40 min
Jul 28, 2:35 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQChowan, Perquimans25 min
Jul 28, 3:42 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQHertford, Northampton33 min
Jul 28, 3:56 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQBertie34 min
Jul 28, 4:13 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQHertford, Northampton32 min
Sep 1, 2:16 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHDavidson, Montgomery, Randolph, Stanly44 min
Sep 1, 5:04 PM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedRAHHarnett, Johnston, Wake26 min
Sep 1, 5:14 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHHoke, Moore, Richmond, Scotland31 min
Sep 1, 5:24 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHHoke, Scotland36 min
Sep 1, 5:27 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHJohnston48 min
Sep 1, 5:56 PM EDTTornado WarningILMRobeson49 min
Sep 1, 5:57 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHHoke, Scotland33 min
Sep 1, 5:58 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHHarnett27 min
Sep 1, 6:43 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPBurke, Rutherford32 min
Sep 1, 6:58 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPCabarrus, Rowan32 min
Sep 1, 7:03 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXGreene, Lenoir, Pitt27 min
Sep 1, 7:12 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPCabarrus, Mecklenburg, Rowan22 min
Sep 1, 7:29 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXGreene, Pitt31 min
Sep 12, 5:27 AM EDTTornado WarningILMBrunswick33 min
Oct 8, 2:25 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPMcDowell, Rutherford35 min
Oct 8, 4:38 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPBurke, Catawba, Cleveland, Lincoln, Rutherford37 min
Oct 8, 5:12 PM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedGSPBurke, Caldwell, Cleveland48 min
Oct 8, 5:55 PM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedGSPCaldwell35 min
Oct 8, 6:08 PM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedRNKWilkes22 min
Oct 8, 6:24 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPCleveland, Rutherford36 min
Oct 8, 6:29 PM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedRNKAshe, Watauga, Wilkes31 min
Oct 23, 3:32 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPCleveland28 min
Oct 23, 3:59 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPBurke, Catawba, Cleveland, Lincoln, Rutherford31 min
Oct 23, 4:25 PM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedGSPAlexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba35 min
Oct 23, 4:50 PM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedGSPAlexander, Caldwell14 min
Oct 23, 5:00 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKAshe, Wilkes30 min
Oct 23, 5:26 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKAlleghany, Ashe, Surry, Wilkes34 min
Oct 23, 5:55 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKAlleghany, Surry35 min
Oct 23, 7:16 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKCaswell, Rockingham29 min
Oct 23, 11:46 PM EDTTornado WarningILMBrunswick, Pender33 min

By county

Every county with at least one alert. A county page lists each alert that covered it.

29 more counties

The busiest days

Days with the most alerts issued, by UTC date.

  1. May 5, 201719tornado warnings
  2. May 24, 201717tornado warnings
  3. September 1, 201713tornado warnings
  4. October 23, 20178tornado warnings
  5. October 8, 20177tornado warnings
  6. May 23, 20175tornado warnings
  7. July 28, 20174tornado warnings
  8. March 1, 20172tornado warnings
  9. June 5, 20172tornado warnings
  10. January 3, 20171tornado warnings
  11. February 15, 20171tornado warnings
  12. March 31, 20171tornado warnings

Nearby

Alerts in force nowTornadoes on recordThe radar archive20162018

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.