Alert archive / North Carolina
Tornado Watches in North Carolina
513 tornado watches since 1986. 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 watches reaches back to 1997.
Tornado Watches by county
Each county as a circle sized by its count since 1986. Tap one for its archive.
- Tornado Watches
- 513
- Busiest year
- 199838 tornado watches
- Average year
- 17over 30 years on file
Over time
By year
Watches are counted from 1997, when the Storm Prediction Center archive begins.
By month of the year
By county
Every county with at least one alert. A county page lists each alert that covered it.
- Duplin County162
- Lenoir County158
- Sampson County158
- Craven County157
- Jones County157
- Onslow County157
- Bertie County154
- Edgecombe County154
- Martin County154
- Beaufort County153
- Greene County153
- Wayne County152
- Wilson County152
- Columbus County151
- Pitt County151
- Halifax County149
- Washington County149
- Hertford County148
- Pamlico County148
- Bladen County147
- Chowan County147
- Nash County147
- Northampton County147
- Brunswick County146
- Gates County146
- Pender County146
- Cumberland County145
- Perquimans County145
- Tyrrell County144
- Johnston County143
- Hyde County142
- Carteret County141
- Pasquotank County140
- Camden County138
- Currituck County137
- New Hanover County137
- Dare County132
- Franklin County132
- Harnett County132
- Wake County132
60 more counties
- Robeson County130
- Hoke County128
- Warren County128
- Vance County122
- Scotland County121
- Granville County119
- Person County111
- Durham County110
- Richmond County110
- Lee County108
- Chatham County107
- Moore County105
- Orange County105
- Randolph County101
- Alamance County100
- Cabarrus County100
- Mecklenburg County100
- Montgomery County100
- Union County99
- Davidson County97
- Anson County95
- Caswell County95
- Guilford County94
- Stanly County93
- Rockingham County89
- Rowan County89
- Gaston County88
- Forsyth County85
- Cherokee County83
- Cleveland County83
- Davie County81
- Iredell County80
- Lincoln County78
- Clay County76
- Polk County76
- Catawba County75
- Rutherford County75
- Stokes County74
- Alexander County70
- Transylvania County70
- Henderson County68
- Burke County66
- McDowell County66
- Macon County66
- Caldwell County65
- Jackson County64
- Graham County62
- Swain County62
- Haywood County61
- Yadkin County60
- Buncombe County58
- Surry County57
- Madison County55
- Yancey County53
- Mitchell County49
- Avery County48
- Wilkes County47
- Alleghany County42
- Ashe County35
- Watauga County35
The latest tornado watches
The most recent on file, newest first.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 16, 1:18 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 27 more | 7 hr |
| Mar 16, 10:52 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Hertford and 3 more | 8 hr |
| Mar 16, 8:54 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Caswell, Chatham, Cumberland, Davidson and 19 more | 5 hr |
| Mar 15, 9:22 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cherokee, Clay | 9 hr |
Nearby
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.