North Carolina, 2001

Damaging Wind in North Carolina, May 20, 2001

May 20, 2001 · NWS MHX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 20, 1:20 PM EST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 1:20 PM EST, 4 hours 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
220 PM EDT SUN MAY 20 2001

DRY AIR ACROSS OUR INLAND AREA SEEMS TO BE INHIBITING CONVECTION
ALONG THE SEA BREEZE. HAVE SEEN A FEW CELLS DEVELOP...BUT THEY
QUICKLY DIE DOWN. TO OUR SW WHERE THERE IS MORE MOISTURE...SHOWERS
AND TSTMS HAVE DEVELOPED ON THE SEA BREEZE NEAR WILMINGTON AND BACK
NEAR THE NC/SC BORDER. EXPECT THIS TREND TO CONTINUE AND MAIN THREAT
OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BE LATER THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT AS
SHRTWV APPROACHES FROM THE SW AND DEEPER MOISTURE INTO THE AREA OUT
OF SC. HOWEVER...CANT RULE OUT AN ISOLATED SHOWER OR TSTM
DEVELOPING ALONG OUR SEA BREEZE...ESPECIALLY ACROSS OUR SRN
COUNTIES. MOISTURE WILL BE MUCH DEEPER ACROSS THE AREA LATER TONIGHT
AND INTO MONDAY. BEST CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND TSTMS WILL BE LATE
TONIGHT INTO EARLY MONDAY AS SHRTWV TRACKS ACROSS THE AREA. MON
NIGHT LOOKS DRY WITH NEXT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND TSTMS LATE TUE
AFTERNOON INTO TUE NIGHT AHEAD OF COLD FRONT AND ADVANCING UPPER
LOW. AVN LOOKS MUCH MORE LIMITED ON AVAILABLE MOISTURE AND LIFT THAN
ETA IS SUGGESTING. JUST PLANNING CHANCE POPS ON TUE INTO TUE NIGHT
AT THIS POINT.  BLEND OF GUIDANCE FOR TEMPS LOOKS GOOD.

APPROACHING DEEP UPPER LOW APPROACHING AREA LATER IN THE WEEK WILL
BRING UNSETTLED WEATHER AND BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES.

CWF: WEAK FRNT TO MV BACK TO VA BORDER BY 12Z. WINDS SWING TO S AND
SW BHND FRNT AND LASTS THRU TUE. FRNT APPROACHES FM W TUE AFTN.
GRADIENT TIGHTENS SOME MON NIGHT...MAY NEED SCSEC ATTM...BUT WL STAY
BLO SCA CRITERIA THRU PERIOD.

.MHX...NONE.

RSB/GGW

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 20, 3:40 PM EST, 1 hour 50 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY, NC
440 PM EDT SUN MAY 20 2001

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0336 PM    RICHLANDS                 NC   .75 INCH HAIL
05/20/01   ONSLOW                         REPORTED BY RICHLANDS FIRE
                                          DEPARTMENT

NMP

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Martin

When
May 20, 5:30 PM EST
Where
Martin County, Robersonville
Measured
53 kt (61 mph)
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.817, -77.250

Strong thunderstorm winds destroyed a couple of barns near Robersonville.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, May 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5243843.