Tornadoes · United States · North Carolina · 2003

F0 tornado, Silk Hope, North Carolina, May 31, 2003

This F0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Chatham County on May 31, 2003, touching down at 6:15 PM EDT and reaching 10 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
F0
Date
May 31, 2003
Touchdown
6:15 PM EDT (22:15 UTC)
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
10 yards (9 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Chatham County
Touchdown point
35.780, -79.370
Lift-off point
35.780, -79.370
Record number
870

What the Weather Service recorded

A brief tornado touchdown twisted and blew down large trees.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, 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 tornado touched down at May 31, 2:29 PM EDT, 3 hours 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 31, 2:29 PM EDT, 3 hours 46 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
230 PM AM EDT SAT MAY 31 2003

WILL KEEP SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH 00Z IN THE WEST...AND
UNTIL 03Z FOR MOST EASTERN ZONES.  ABRUPT CLEARING WEST TO EAST
OVERNIGHT AS DRYING ALOFT AND STRONG SUBSIDENCE BUILDS ACROSS THE
REGION BEHIND EXITING UPPER TROUGH. SAME FEATURES WILL BE IN FIRM
CONTROL OF THE STATES WEATHER ON SUNDAY. THEN ON MONDAY UPPER FLOW
COMES WESTERLY WITH WEAK SURFACE HIGH MOVING OFFSHORE.  INCREASING
MOISTURE MONDAY NIGHT AS WEAK SYSTEM LIFTS NORTH OUT OF GULF.

DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN GFS/ETA BEGIN HERE. LIFT ASSOCIATED ALONG
CONVERGENCE OF 850 LOW AND TROUGH. ETA FARTHER N WITH 850 LOW OVER
CENTRAL NC WHILE GFS KEEPS LOW SOUTH OF THE AREA. WILL KEEP 30% POPS
OVER ENTIRE CWA ON TUESDAY. THEN CONTINUE 30% POPS TUESDAY NIGHT
OVER EASTERN 2/3 WITH 20% OVER THE NORTHWEST TUESDAY NIGHT AS LOW
MOVES TO NEAR ILM/MYRTLE AREA. WITH LOW OFF THE COAST...WEAK RIDGING
DEVELOPS OVER THE AREA. AVN DRIES THINGS OUT A BIT...AND THUS REMOVE
POPS. NEXT TROUGH QUICKLY APPROACHES THE AREA WEDNESDAY
NIGHT/THURSDAY MORNING AS LOW LEVEL BECOMES SOUTHERLY
AGAIN.

...THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...

WITH LOW CONFIDENCE IN TIMING OF SURFACE FEATURES...WILL FOCUS ON
LARGE SCALE FEATURES.  A COMMON SUMMERTIME PATTERN SETS UP OVER THE
SE U.S. AS BERMUDA-AZORES HIGH STRENGTHENS OVER WESTERN ATLANTIC.
SCATTERED AFT CONVECTION SEEMS A SURE BET WITH DEEP SW FLOW...
MOIST CONDITIONALLY UNSTABLE BL AND UNSETTLED SURFACE FEATURES. HIGH
TEMPS WILL RANGE FROM 80 TO 85 (DEWPOINTS IN THE UPPER 60S) WITH
NIGHT TIME TEMPS IN THE MID TO UPPER 60S.

.RAH...TORNADO WATCH THROUGH 800 PM.

BL
Hazardous weather outlook, May 31, 5:00 AM EDT, 13 hours 15 minutes before
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088-089-311045-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
500 AM EDT SAT MAY 31 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY
THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE STORMS OVER CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
TODAY INTO EARLY EVENING. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE
EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE TRIAD AREA BY MID MORNING AND SPREAD EAST
ACROSS THE AREA. THEN ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL
MOVE ACROSS CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON AS A COLD FRONT
PUSH EAST ACROSS THE AREA.  THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL
BE DAMAGING WINDS AND POSSIBLE TORNADOES...ESPECIALLY THIS AFTERNOON
INTO THE EARLY EVENING ACROSS THE COASTAL PLAIN AND SANDHILLS...ALONG
AND EAST OF A LINE FROM ROANOKE RAPIDS...NASHVILLE...CLAYTON...
LILLINGTON...TO FAYETTEVILLE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER THERE IS A CHANCE
FOR LATE DAY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER NETWORK ACTIVATION WILL MOST LIKELY BE NEEDED LATER THIS
MORNING...THIS AFTERNOON INTO EARLY EVENING.

RA

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 31, 5:25 PM EDT, 50 minutes before
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Local storm report, May 31, 5:31 PM EDT, 44 minutes before
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Local storm report, May 31, 5:41 PM EDT, 34 minutes before
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Local storm report, May 31, 5:45 PM EDT, 30 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 31, 6:08 PM EDT, 7 minutes before
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The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), 12:00Z

10.3 hours before the tornado, 58 km from the path. May 31, 2003.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2003-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -69196, lifted condensation level 1484 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2003-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 157 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-69196 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1484 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
157 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
166 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), 00:00Z

1.7 hours after it, 58 km from the path. June 1, 2003.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2003-06-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 16 joules per kilogram, CIN -32, lifted condensation level 1767 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2003-06-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 13 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 57 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
16 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-32 J/kg
Surface CAPE
97 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1767 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Burlington-Alamance_reg_(Asos) (BUY), 31 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:00 UTC

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:12 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2003 tornado in North CarolinaEvery tornado in North Carolina since 1950Warnings in force in North Carolina nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 31, 2003

3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 315:00 PM EDTF0Anson, NC0.210
May 315:57 PM EDTF0Brunswick, VA1.050
May 318:00 PM MDTF0Sioux, NE0.340

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.