Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings
Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 2022
110 tornado warnings in 2022. 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 2022. Tap one for its archive.
- Tornado Warnings
- 110
- Busiest month
- May54 tornado warnings
- Busiest day
- May 6, 202220 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.
13 of 110 tornado warnings covering North Carolina in 2022 had a tornado report inside them; 15 of 23 tornado reports fell inside a warning, on average 15 minutes after it went out.
North Carolina, 2022
| Warnings | With a report | False alarm ratio | Reports | Inside a warning | Mean lead time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado warnings | 110 | 13 | 88% | 23 | 65% | 15 min |
Each office's whole area, 2022
| Warnings | With a report | False alarm ratio | Reports | Inside a warning | Mean lead time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWS Morristown, TN: tornado warnings | 4 | 0 | 100% | 0 | ||
| NWS Blacksburg, VA: tornado warnings | 36 | 5 | 86% | 9 | 44% | 14 min |
| NWS Raleigh, NC: tornado warnings | 33 | 2 | 94% | 6 | 67% | 4 min |
| NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC: tornado warnings | 11 | 1 | 91% | 2 | 50% | 10 min |
| NWS Wilmington, NC: tornado warnings | 15 | 2 | 87% | 3 | 67% | 5 min |
| NWS Wakefield, VA: tornado warnings | 52 | 6 | 88% | 12 | 75% | 15 min |
| NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC: tornado warnings | 38 | 5 | 87% | 15 | 40% | 24 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 23, 4:29 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Davidson, Guilford, Randolph | 46 min |
| Mar 23, 7:41 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Caldwell | 26 min |
| Mar 23, 7:44 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Burke, McDowell | 24 min |
| Mar 23, 8:06 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Burke, Caldwell | 24 min |
| Mar 23, 10:03 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Polk, Rutherford | 23 min |
| Mar 23, 10:08 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Henderson, Transylvania | 33 min |
| Mar 23, 10:10 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Burke, Caldwell, McDowell | 50 min |
| Mar 23, 10:23 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Burke, McDowell, Rutherford | 52 min |
| Mar 23, 10:36 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Alexander, Burke, Caldwell | 39 min |
| Mar 23, 10:58 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Alexander, Caldwell | 47 min |
| Mar 23, 11:02 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Wilkes | 28 min |
| Mar 23, 11:04 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Burke, Caldwell, Catawba | 30 min |
| Mar 23, 11:29 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Surry | 20 min |
| Mar 23, 11:52 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Surry, Yadkin | 23 min |
| Mar 24, 12:10 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Stokes, Surry | 13 min |
| Mar 24, 7:22 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Harnett, Johnston | 53 min |
| Mar 31, 1:22 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Cumberland, Johnston, Sampson | 23 min |
| Mar 31, 1:25 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Anson, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Stanly | 20 min |
| Mar 31, 1:35 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Warren | 10 min |
| Mar 31, 3:48 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Durham, Granville, Wake | 27 min |
| Mar 31, 4:05 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Durham, Franklin, Granville, Wake | 25 min |
| Mar 31, 5:35 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Halifax, Nash | 25 min |
| Mar 31, 7:11 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Craven, Jones, Pamlico | 23 min |
| Apr 6, 12:26 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Carteret | 34 min |
| Apr 6, 12:58 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Dare, Hyde | 32 min |
| Apr 6, 1:29 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Dare, Hyde, Tyrrell | 31 min |
| Apr 7, 6:15 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Bertie, Chowan, Gates, Hertford | 30 min |
| Apr 7, 6:23 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Wayne | 16 min |
| Apr 7, 6:51 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Camden, Currituck | 24 min |
| May 6, 1:21 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Lincoln, Rutherford | 24 min |
| May 6, 3:16 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Yadkin | 13 min |
| May 6, 3:19 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Forsyth | 26 min |
| May 6, 4:36 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Bertie, Chowan | 24 min |
| May 6, 4:45 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Martin, Washington | 45 min |
| May 6, 4:59 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Caswell | 31 min |
| May 6, 5:00 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Bertie, Chowan, Perquimans | 30 min |
| May 6, 5:12 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Person | 33 min |
| May 6, 5:18 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Durham, Orange, Person | 42 min |
| May 6, 6:00 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Gaston, Mecklenburg | 31 min |
| May 6, 6:26 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Yadkin | 11 min |
| May 6, 6:27 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Forsyth | 33 min |
| May 6, 6:45 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Forsyth | 19 min |
| May 6, 6:49 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Stokes | 26 min |
| May 6, 6:59 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Surry, Yadkin | 15 min |
| May 6, 7:10 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Rockingham, Stokes | 35 min |
| May 6, 7:15 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Bertie, Chowan, Gates, Hertford | 30 min |
| May 6, 7:21 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Robeson | 24 min |
| May 6, 7:33 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Rockingham | 27 min |
| May 6, 7:55 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Caswell, Rockingham | 35 min |
| May 6, 8:11 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Caswell | 34 min |
| May 6, 8:35 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Caswell | 15 min |
| May 16, 8:28 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Craven, Jones, Pamlico | 19 min |
| May 23, 1:44 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Cabarrus | 31 min |
| May 23, 1:59 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Davidson, Montgomery, Randolph, Stanly | 46 min |
| May 23, 2:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Rowan | 22 min |
| May 23, 2:49 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Chatham, Lee, Moore | 31 min |
| May 23, 4:06 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Durham, Franklin, Granville, Wake | 39 min |
| May 23, 4:11 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Durham, Franklin, Granville, Vance | 34 min |
| May 23, 4:58 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Franklin, Halifax, Warren | 16 min |
| May 23, 7:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Cleveland, Rutherford | 32 min |
| May 23, 7:25 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Union | 25 min |
| May 23, 7:43 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Cleveland, Rutherford | 18 min |
| May 26, 4:12 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Burke, Catawba, Cleveland, Lincoln, Rutherford | 48 min |
| May 26, 4:17 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Cleveland, Gaston | 43 min |
| May 26, 4:45 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Cleveland | 45 min |
| May 26, 4:57 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Lincoln | 48 min |
| May 26, 5:41 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Alexander, Caldwell, Catawba | 38 min |
| May 26, 5:50 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Wilkes | 40 min |
| May 26, 6:19 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Surry, Wilkes, Yadkin | 26 min |
| May 26, 6:24 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Alexander, Catawba, Iredell, Lincoln | 51 min |
| May 26, 6:32 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln | 43 min |
| May 26, 7:07 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Alexander, Iredell | 38 min |
| May 26, 7:10 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Surry, Wilkes, Yadkin | 35 min |
| May 26, 7:15 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Alexander, Catawba, Iredell | 45 min |
| May 26, 7:39 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Surry, Wilkes, Yadkin | 51 min |
| May 26, 7:51 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Surry, Wilkes, Yadkin | 24 min |
| May 26, 7:54 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Surry | 36 min |
| May 26, 7:56 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Alexander, Davie, Iredell | 49 min |
| May 27, 3:22 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Forsyth | 23 min |
| May 27, 3:28 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Stokes | 32 min |
| May 27, 8:43 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Person | 32 min |
| May 27, 5:22 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Wake | 23 min |
| May 27, 5:42 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Johnston, Wake | 17 min |
| Jun 3, 2:24 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Hyde, Tyrrell, Washington | 51 min |
| Jun 13, 5:45 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Currituck | 30 min |
| Jun 17, 8:01 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Bladen, Robeson | 15 min |
| Jul 31, 12:53 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Halifax | 37 min |
| Jul 31, 1:31 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Halifax | 30 min |
| Jul 31, 5:24 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Onslow | 14 min |
| Aug 15, 7:03 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Bladen, Columbus | 27 min |
| Aug 15, 7:51 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Columbus, Robeson | 24 min |
| Sep 10, 11:44 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Brunswick | 31 min |
| Sep 11, 5:50 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Pender | 25 min |
| Sep 30, 12:21 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Brunswick | 39 min |
| Sep 30, 2:46 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Pamlico | 44 min |
| Sep 30, 3:22 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort | 13 min |
| Sep 30, 4:19 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Craven, Jones | 26 min |
| Sep 30, 5:21 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Camden, Currituck, Pasquotank | 24 min |
| Sep 30, 5:44 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Camden, Currituck, Pasquotank | 16 min |
| Nov 11, 7:25 AM EST | Tornado Warning | ILM | Bladen, Columbus | 17 min |
| Nov 11, 7:31 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Chatham, Randolph | 29 min |
| Nov 11, 8:27 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Alamance | 33 min |
| Nov 11, 9:43 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Durham, Granville, Orange, Person | 14 min |
| Nov 11, 9:52 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Durham, Granville | 23 min |
| Nov 11, 10:52 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Franklin, Granville, Vance | 38 min |
| Nov 11, 11:11 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Franklin, Warren | 34 min |
| Nov 11, 11:49 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Warren | 11 min |
| Nov 11, 12:25 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Halifax, Warren | 35 min |
| Nov 11, 2:35 PM EST | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Gates, Hertford | 25 min |
| Nov 11, 2:58 PM EST | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Gates | 32 min |
By county
Every county with at least one alert. A county page lists each alert that covered it.
- Caldwell County9
- Burke County9
- Surry County9
- Alexander County8
- Catawba County8
- Yadkin County8
- Durham County7
- Granville County7
- Cleveland County7
- Rutherford County6
- Wilkes County6
- Franklin County6
- Warren County5
- Wake County5
- Halifax County5
- Lincoln County5
- Randolph County4
- Stokes County4
- Beaufort County4
- Bertie County4
- Chowan County4
- Gates County4
- Currituck County4
- Forsyth County4
- Caswell County4
- Person County4
- Iredell County4
- McDowell County3
- Johnston County3
- Craven County3
- Jones County3
- Pamlico County3
- Hyde County3
- Hertford County3
- Camden County3
- Gaston County3
- Rockingham County3
- Robeson County3
- Bladen County3
- Columbus County3
35 more counties
- Davidson County2
- Montgomery County2
- Moore County2
- Stanly County2
- Dare County2
- Tyrrell County2
- Washington County2
- Orange County2
- Chatham County2
- Vance County2
- Brunswick County2
- Pasquotank County2
- Guilford County1
- Polk County1
- Henderson County1
- Transylvania County1
- Harnett County1
- Cumberland County1
- Sampson County1
- Anson County1
- Nash County1
- Carteret County1
- Wayne County1
- Martin County1
- Perquimans County1
- Mecklenburg County1
- Cabarrus County1
- Rowan County1
- Lee County1
- Union County1
- Davie County1
- Edgecombe County1
- Onslow County1
- Pender County1
- Alamance County1
The busiest days
Days with the most alerts issued, by UTC date.
Nearby
Alerts in force nowTornadoes on recordThe radar archive20212023
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.