Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings
Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 2023
51 tornado warnings in 2023. 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 2023. Tap one for its archive.
- Tornado Warnings
- 51
- Busiest month
- August14 tornado warnings
- Busiest day
- December 10, 20237 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.
7 of 51 tornado warnings covering North Carolina in 2023 had a tornado report inside them; 7 of 15 tornado reports fell inside a warning, on average 9 minutes after it went out.
North Carolina, 2023
| Warnings | With a report | False alarm ratio | Reports | Inside a warning | Mean lead time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado warnings | 51 | 7 | 86% | 15 | 47% | 9 min |
Each office's whole area, 2023
| Warnings | With a report | False alarm ratio | Reports | Inside a warning | Mean lead time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC: tornado warnings | 14 | 3 | 79% | 11 | 27% | 2 min |
| NWS Wilmington, NC: tornado warnings | 15 | 1 | 93% | 3 | 33% | 4 min |
| NWS Morristown, TN: tornado warnings | 29 | 4 | 86% | 10 | 60% | 11 min |
| NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC: tornado warnings | 9 | 0 | 100% | 5 | 0% | |
| NWS Wakefield, VA: tornado warnings | 15 | 4 | 73% | 6 | 83% | 10 min |
| NWS Raleigh, NC: tornado warnings | 14 | 2 | 86% | 3 | 100% | 11 min |
| NWS Blacksburg, VA: tornado warnings | 8 | 1 | 88% | 2 | 100% | 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 4, 1:24 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Franklin, Johnston, Nash, Wake | 21 min |
| Jan 4, 2:36 PM EST | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Northampton | 24 min |
| Jan 12, 6:10 PM EST | Tornado Warning | GSP | Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg | 35 min |
| Jan 25, 7:42 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Sampson | 21 min |
| Jan 25, 8:13 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MHX | Dare, Hyde | 17 min |
| Jan 25, 8:45 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Martin, Pitt | 15 min |
| Jan 25, 9:01 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MHX | Dare, Hyde | 17 min |
| Mar 3, 3:31 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MRX | Cherokee | 29 min |
| Mar 27, 4:01 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Brunswick | 29 min |
| Apr 1, 6:16 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MRX | Cherokee | 44 min |
| Apr 22, 7:28 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Cabarrus, Iredell, Mecklenburg, Rowan | 32 min |
| Apr 22, 5:12 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Robeson | 14 min |
| Apr 30, 3:28 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Halifax | 19 min |
| Jun 19, 5:39 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Iredell, Rowan | 36 min |
| Jun 19, 6:25 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Rowan | 33 min |
| Jun 19, 7:08 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Cabarrus, Iredell, Mecklenburg, Rowan | 37 min |
| Jun 19, 7:39 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Cabarrus, Iredell, Mecklenburg, Rowan | 51 min |
| Jul 1, 8:06 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Robeson | 24 min |
| Jul 9, 11:57 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Alamance, Guilford | 23 min |
| Jul 9, 4:18 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Onslow | 27 min |
| Jul 14, 12:43 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Sampson | 22 min |
| Jul 14, 12:54 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Duplin | 36 min |
| Jul 15, 6:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Alleghany, Ashe | 32 min |
| Jul 19, 12:31 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Halifax, Nash | 59 min |
| Jul 24, 3:30 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Beaufort, Craven, Pamlico | 30 min |
| Aug 7, 4:59 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Iredell, Rowan | 31 min |
| Aug 7, 5:08 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Cabarrus, Mecklenburg | 38 min |
| Aug 7, 5:43 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Montgomery, Stanly | 47 min |
| Aug 7, 6:27 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Chatham, Lee, Randolph | 33 min |
| Aug 14, 11:53 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Ashe | 25 min |
| Aug 15, 12:55 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Avery | 14 min |
| Aug 15, 12:57 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Watauga | 33 min |
| Aug 15, 1:23 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Ashe, Watauga, Wilkes | 23 min |
| Aug 30, 6:14 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Brunswick | 31 min |
| Aug 30, 6:47 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Brunswick | 28 min |
| Aug 30, 7:00 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Brunswick | 30 min |
| Aug 30, 7:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Brunswick | 32 min |
| Aug 30, 7:23 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Brunswick, New Hanover | 37 min |
| Aug 30, 10:08 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Brunswick | 13 min |
| Sep 23, 7:20 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Chowan, Gates, Pasquotank, Perquimans | 25 min |
| Sep 23, 7:44 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Chowan, Gates, Hertford | 31 min |
| Dec 10, 11:36 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Harnett, Lee | 24 min |
| Dec 10, 12:14 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Johnston, Wake | 31 min |
| Dec 10, 12:36 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Wake | 24 min |
| Dec 10, 12:58 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Franklin, Wake | 32 min |
| Dec 10, 3:57 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Halifax, Warren | 33 min |
| Dec 10, 4:02 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Franklin, Warren | 28 min |
| Dec 10, 4:08 PM EST | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Northampton | 37 min |
| Dec 17, 8:42 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MHX | Carteret, Craven | 15 min |
| Dec 17, 9:49 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MHX | Carteret | 15 min |
| Dec 17, 9:52 PM EST | Tornado Warning | MHX | Carteret, Craven | 12 min |
By county
Every county with at least one alert. A county page lists each alert that covered it.
- Brunswick County7
- Rowan County6
- Mecklenburg County5
- Iredell County5
- Wake County4
- Cabarrus County4
- Franklin County3
- Halifax County3
- Ashe County3
- Craven County3
- Carteret County3
- Johnston County2
- Nash County2
- Northampton County2
- Sampson County2
- Dare County2
- Hyde County2
- Beaufort County2
- Cherokee County2
- Robeson County2
- Lee County2
- Watauga County2
- Chowan County2
- Gates County2
- Warren County2
- Gaston County1
- Lincoln County1
- Martin County1
- Pitt County1
- Alamance County1
- Guilford County1
- Onslow County1
- Duplin County1
- Alleghany County1
- Edgecombe County1
- Pamlico County1
- Montgomery County1
- Stanly County1
- Chatham County1
- Randolph County1
The busiest days
Days with the most alerts issued, by UTC date.
Nearby
Alerts in force nowTornadoes on recordThe radar archive20222024
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.