1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 Raleigh, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 7, 11:55 AM EST, 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 1155 AM EST MON MAR 7 2005 .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OFF THE FL COAST AT 15Z/07 MARCH. A DEEPENING SURFACE LOW WAS CENTERED OVER MI (987 MB)... WITH A TRAILING COLD FRONT NEAR STL AND OKC. && .SHORT TERM (REST OF TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT)... SATELLITE AND OBSERVATIONS INDICATE SUNNY SKIES OVER MUCH OF NC AT LATE MORNING. LOW AND MID LEVEL CLOUDS WERE ADVANCING QUICKLY ENE THROUGH THE TN VALLEY REGION. VERY DRY BOUNDARY LAYER CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO BE OBSERVED ACROSS NC LATE MORNING. SURFACE DEW POINTS WERE IN THE 20S AND 30S. STABLE CONDITIONS EXTENDED WELL UPSTREAM THROUGH GA/AL EVEN WITH THE S-SW LOW LEVEL FLOW. UNSTABLE CONDITIONS WERE CONFINED TO THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY REGION... WHICH WAS VERY SLOWLY ADVANCING NORTH INTO AL/MS. 12Z SOUNDINGS FROM GSO TO ATLANTA INDICATE VERY DRY LOW AND MID LEVELS. THIS FORECAST UPDATE WILL RAISE HIGHS TO BETWEEN 70 AND 74 NW TO SE THIS AFTERNOON... AND DELAY MID LEVEL MOISTURE ARRIVAL UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON MOST AREAS SUPPORTED BY LARGE AMOUNT OF LOW AND MID LEVEL DRY AIR. THERE CONTINUES TO BE A MINIMAL SEVERE WEATHER THREAT OVERNIGHT TONIGHT... BUT LIKELY CONFINED MORE TO THE GULF COASTAL STATES... ACROSS GA/COASTAL SC/NC THAN CENTRAL NC. THREAT EXISTS DUE TO A SQUALL LINE THAT LIKELY DEVELOPS OVER THE LOWER MS VALLEY NE INTO THE TN VALLEY LATE THIS AFTERNOON... WHICH SHOULD PROPAGATE RAPIDLY ESE INTO THE MOST UNSTABLE AIR (WHICH SHOULD REMAIN SOUTH OF CENTRAL NC)... BETWEEN 04Z AND 09Z/08 MARCH. OUR SE COUNTIES WOULD HAVE THE GREATEST RISK FOR SEVERE IN OUR REGION (DAMAGING WIND GUST POTENTIAL)... WHERE THE INSTABILITY IS BEST. MODELS INDICATE BOUNDARY LAYER DEW POINT RECOVERY INTO CENTRAL NC IS ONLY FCST INTO THE 40S (LOWER 50S SE AND UPPER 30S NW). CURRENT DATA SUPPORTS THIS MINIMAL FCST DEW POINT RECOVERY... AND RESULTANT MINIMAL INSTABILITY TO SUPPORT SEVERE WIND GUSTS TO THE SFC. EXAMINATION OF CURRENT DATA... AND NEW 12Z MODEL RUNS INDICATE A STRONG COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE CENTRAL NC AROUND 09Z/08 MARCH AT GSO AND 12Z/08 MARCH AT RDU (GIVE OR TAKE AN HOUR OR TWO EITHER WAY)... WITH SHOWERS AND GUSTY WINDS 25-40 MPH. HOWEVER... THE STRENGTH OF THE MID LEVEL TROUGH THAT PUNCHES ACROSS THE REGION WITH THIS LINE OF SHOWERS/ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS... WILL LIKELY BE STRONG ENOUGH TO RESULT IN WIND GUSTS NEAR 50 MPH IN THE ISOLATED STRONGER CELLS TO MIX TO THE SURFACE. THE SPS WILL BE UPDATED TO REDUCE SEVERE WIND THREAT AND HAIL THREAT... AND EMPHASIZE STRONG GUSTY WINDS WITH A LINE OF SHOWERS/ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVERNIGHT... BASED ON BEST LOW LEVEL INSTABILITY REMAINING OVER SC AND SE NC. && .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... (ISSUED 300 AM EST MON MAR 7 2005) SHORT TERM (TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY)... JUST MINOR TWEAKS REQUIRED TO SHORT TERM FORECAST...MAINLY TO TIMING OF CONVECTIVE EVENT MON NIGHT/EARLY TUE...AND TO MAX/MIN TEMPS TODAY THROUGH THU. DECENT S/W DIVING S-SE ACROSS THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PLAINS AT 06Z/MON WILL CONTINUE TO DIG S-SE TOWARD THE MS DELTA BY 00Z/TUE... AND THROUGH THE DEEP SOUTH OVERNIGHT. THIS FEATURE WILL ENHANCE/STRENGTHEN LOW LEVEL FLOW OVER THE SE STATES AND THE CAROLINAS LATE TODAY AND MORE SO TONIGHT. EXPECT JUST PATCHY MID AND LEVEL CLOUDS TODAY WITH A BREEZY SW WIND DEVELOPING THIS AFTERNOON. SUNSHINE COUPLED WITH THE LOW LEVEL SW FLOW WILL PUSH AFTERNOON TEMPS A COUPLE OF CATEGORIES ABOVE NORMAL...ESPECIALLY IN THE SE COUNTIES. WILL GO WITH A RANGE OF 67-73 ACROSS THE AREA. SINCE SYSTEM CONTINUES TO DIG SE OVERNIGHT...EXPECT SLOWER EASTWARD TRANSLATION OF MID LEVEL TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED SURFACE COLD FRONT. THUS...APPEARS HIGHEST THREAT FOR SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE T-STORMS WILL OCCUR A FEW HOURS LATER THAN PREVIOUSLY FORECAST...MAINLY BETWEEN 06Z-12Z THEN TAPER OFF W-E ACROSS CENTRAL NC BETWEEN 12Z-16Z. WHILE INSTABILITY APPEARS MARGINAL/WEAK AT THIS TIME WITH CAPE VALUES GENERALLY AOB 500 J/KG AND LIFTED INDICES IN THE MARGINAL RANGE...STRONG WIND PROFILE COUPLED WITH INCREASING DYNAMICS ALOFT SUGGEST POTENTIAL FOR BROKEN LINE OF STRONG/POTENTIALLY SEVERE CONVECTION TO CROSS REGION AFTER 12 MIDNIGHT. ETA/NAM MORE ROBUST WITH LL JET COMPARED TO GFS (60-65 KTS VS 50-55 KTS). ALSO NOTED THAT BOTH MODELS GREATLY ENHANCE STJ OVER THE NE GULF OVERNIGHT RESULTING IN DECENT UPPER DIVERGENCE OVER CENTRAL NC. APPEARS HIGHEST SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL BE FROM LOCALIZED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND HAIL (FREEZING LEVEL BELOW 10K FT). THE CAVEAT TO ALL THIS IS THAT THERE DOES APPEAR TO BE A POTENTIAL FOR STRONG CONVECTION OVER GA/SC LATE TONIGHT/EARLY TUE TO DISRUPT MOISTURE TRANSPORT/INSTABILITY INTO CENTRAL NC...ESPECIALLY WESTERN COUNTIES. IF THIS OCCURS...HIGHEST THREAT FOR WIDESPREAD CONVECTION WILL BE ACROSS THE SE QUARTER OF CENTRAL NC. AFTER 850-700MB TROUGH CROSSES AREA 12-15Z TUE...EXPECT CLOUDS TO DISSIPATE RAPIDLY IN DOWNSLOPE FLOW. LOW LEVEL CAA QUITE STRONG TUE. EXPECT TEMPS TO INITIALLY FALL TUE AM THEN STEADY/SLOWLY RECOVER BY LATE MORNING BEFORE FALLING AGAIN BY MID AFTERNOON. JUST MODEST TEMP RECOVERY EXPECTED AT THIS TIME...MAINLY DUE TO DOWNSLOPE COMPONENT TO WIND OFFSETTING CAA SOMEWHAT INITIALLY. MAINLY CLEAR AND COLD TUE NIGHT AND WED. NEXT SYSTEM IN NORTHERN STREAM HANDLE DIFFERENTLY WITH THE ETA/NAM SWINGING SYSTEM JUST SOUTH OF AREA WHILE GFS FOLLOWS THE CANADIAN AND KEEPS SYSTEM WELL SW-S OF AREA. IF NAM/ETA SCENARIO CORRECT...COULD SEE SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS OVER REGION WED NIGHT. HOWEVER...APPEARS THAT GFS/CANADIAN MAY BE MORE CORRECT IN DIGGING SYSTEM FARTHER S DUE TO THE STRENGTH AND ORIENTATION OF MID/UPPER LEVEL WIND FIELD. THUS WILL KEEP WED NIGHT DRY WITH PATCHY CLOUDINESS...MAINLY SOUTH HALF. FOR THU...WILL MAINTAIN DRY AND SEASONABLY COOL SCENARIO. LONG TERM (THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY)... ENERGETIC NORTHWEST FLOW SENDS ANOTHER CLIPPER SHORT WAVE ACROSS THE AREA THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY EVENING. BETTER CHANCE OF SHOWERS SHOULD BE EARLY IN THIS EVENT WHEN UPPER DYNAMICS AND LOW LEVEL MOISTURE ADVECTION ARE IN PHASE. AS SUCH...WILL TWEAK THE CHANCE POPS A BIT EARLIER...LATE THURSDAY NIGHT. MAY HAVE TO INTRODUCE SNOW SHOWERS IN LATER PACKAGES FOR FRIDAY AS THE THERMAL STRUCTURE BECOMES CLEARER. BACKDOOR FROPA IN THE OFFING FOR THE VERY LATE EXTENDED...DAY 7-8 TIME FRAME. CURRENTLY WE WOULD REMAIN IN THE WARM SECTOR SOUTH OF THE OVERRUNNING UNTIL MONDAY...SO WILL CONTINUE DRY FOR THE WEEKEND. AVIATION... VFR VISIBILITIES AND CEILINGS THROUGH THE PERIOD. HIGH LEVEL CLOUDINESS SHOULD SLOWLY INCREASE TOMORROW AFTERNOON AS UPPER MOISTURE ADVECTS IN FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AND CLOSED CIRCULATION OVER THE FAR SOUTHWEST UNITED STATES... THEN CLOUDS SHOULD CONTINUE TO THICKEN AND LOWER THROUGH THE EVENING. LIGHT SOUTHWEST WINDS TONIGHT INCREASING TO AROUND 15 KNOTS WITH GUSTS TO 25 KNOTS BEGINNING IN THE AFTERNOON. && .RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SYNOPSIS... SHORT TERM...BADGETT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 556 AM EST MON MAR 7 2005 NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088-089-081052- ALAMANCE NC-ANSON NC-CHATHAM NC-CUMBERLAND NC-DAVIDSON NC-DURHAM NC- EDGECOMBE NC-FORSYTH NC-FRANKLIN NC-GRANVILLE NC-GUILFORD NC- HALIFAX NC-HARNETT NC-HOKE NC-JOHNSTON NC-LEE NC-MONTGOMERY NC- MOORE NC-NASH NC-ORANGE NC-PERSON NC-RANDOLPH NC-RICHMOND NC- SAMPSON NC-SCOTLAND NC-STANLY NC-VANCE NC-WAKE NC-WARREN NC-WAYNE NC- WILSON NC- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ALBEMARLE...ASHEBORO...BELEWS CREEK... BURLINGTON...CHAPEL HILL...CLINTON...DURHAM...FAYETTEVILLE... GOLDSBORO...GREENSBORO...HENDERSON...LAURINBURG...LEXINGTON... LILLINGTON...LOUISBURG...MOUNT OLIVE...NASHVILLE...OXFORD... PITTSBORO...RAEFORD...RALEIGH...ROANOKE RAPIDS...ROCKINGHAM... ROCKY MOUNT...ROXBORO...SANFORD...SMITHFIELD...SOUTHERN PINES... TARBORO...TROY...WADESBORO...WARRENTON...WILSON AND WINSTON-SALEM 556 AM EST MON MAR 7 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED TODAY. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA TONIGHT AND CROSS THE REGION EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. AHEAD OF THE FRONT... THE AIR WILL HAVE SUFFICIENT MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY TO SUPPORT SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS. THE WINDS IN THE LOW AND MID LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE QUITE STRONG...SUGGESTING THE POTENTIAL OF DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS WITH THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS. AWAY FROM THE STORMS...SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL FREQUENTLY GUST BETWEEN 25 AND 30 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL EXIT CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA TUESDAY MORNING. NORTHWEST WINDS BETWEEN 15 AND 25 MPH ARE EXPECTED BEHIND THE FRONT TUESDAY WITH GUSTS BETWEEN 30 AND 35 MPH. THE WINDS WILL GRADUALLY SUBSIDE TUESDAY NIGHT. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS AND LOCAL STORM SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND STATEMENTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TODAY AND TONIGHT. SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY BUT MAY BE NEEDED LATE TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. WSS
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 1200 PM EST MON MAR 7 2005 NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088-089-072200- ALAMANCE NC-ANSON NC-CHATHAM NC-CUMBERLAND NC-DAVIDSON NC-DURHAM NC- EDGECOMBE NC-FORSYTH NC-FRANKLIN NC-GRANVILLE NC-GUILFORD NC- HALIFAX NC-HARNETT NC-HOKE NC-JOHNSTON NC-LEE NC-MONTGOMERY NC- MOORE NC-NASH NC-ORANGE NC-PERSON NC-RANDOLPH NC-RICHMOND NC- SAMPSON NC-SCOTLAND NC-STANLY NC-VANCE NC-WAKE NC-WARREN NC-WAYNE NC- WILSON NC- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ALBEMARLE...ASHEBORO...BELEWS CREEK... BURLINGTON...CHAPEL HILL...CLINTON...DURHAM...FAYETTEVILLE... GOLDSBORO...GREENSBORO...HENDERSON...LAURINBURG...LEXINGTON... LILLINGTON...LOUISBURG...MOUNT OLIVE...NASHVILLE...OXFORD... PITTSBORO...RAEFORD...RALEIGH...ROANOKE RAPIDS...ROCKINGHAM... ROCKY MOUNT...ROXBORO...SANFORD...SMITHFIELD...SOUTHERN PINES... TARBORO...TROY...WADESBORO...WARRENTON...WILSON AND WINSTON-SALEM 1200 PM EST MON MAR 7 2005 ...STRONG GUSTY WINDS WILL ACCOMPANY A LINE OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE REGION LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY TUESDAY MORNING... A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL SURGE EAST ACROSS NORTH CAROLINA OVERNIGHT AND EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. A LINE OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TO ACCOMPANY THE FRONTAL PASSAGE. A PERIOD OF HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WIND TO BETWEEN 30 AND 50 MPH WILL LIKELY ACCOMPANY THE FRONT. THESE WINDS WOULD BE CAPABLE OF TOSSING AROUND YARD FURNITURE AND BENDING OR BREAKING A FEW TREE LIMBS. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL ACCOMPANY THE HEAVIEST SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT ISOLATED CELLS WITHIN THE LINE COULD PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND GUSTS OF 58 MPH... BUT AT THIS TIME IT APPEARS THIS THREAT MAY REMAIN CONFINED TO AREAS SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS AND LOCAL STORM SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND STATEMENTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND EARLY TONIGHT. STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NECESSARY LATE TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. BADGETT
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 20 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:39 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lighting struck a tree outside a Cary residence. Lightning then entered the natural gas line rupturing the line under the house resulting in a severely damaging fire.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, March 2005
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: 5440100.