Overview/Warnings
A Tornado Watch was issued at 445 pm for all eastern North Carolina effective until 11 pm. In total, 8 Tornado Warnings and 11 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued by the Newport/Morehead City office. The first warning was issued at 537 pm with the last issuance at 906 pm. The following Mesoscale Convective Discussion was issued by the Storm Prediction Center in Norman OK at 530 pm local time which highlighted the threat for supercell development over eastern North Carolina in the next few hours.
MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0897
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0630 PM CDT SUN MAY 11 2008
AREAS AFFECTED...ERN NC...NE SC
CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 307...
VALID 112330Z - 120100Z
THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR TORNADO WATCH 307
CONTINUES.
THE SEVERE THREAT WILL SPREAD EWD ACROSS THE PAMLICO
SOUND AREA OF ERN NC AND WILL PERSIST ACROSS SRN NC
FOR SEVERAL MORE HOURS. A TORNADO OR TWO REMAIN
POSSIBLE HOWEVER...LARGE HAIL AND WIND DAMAGE
SHOULD BE THE PRIMARY THREATS WITH THE STRONGER
CELLS. A REPLACEMENT WW MAY BECOME NECESSARY OVER
THE NEXT HOUR ACROSS SRN NC.
LATEST SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS A 994 MB LOW OVER NE NC WITH
A OUTFLOW BOUNDARY EXTENDING WSWWD INTO CNTRL NC.
A COLD FRONT IS PRESENT FROM NEAR RALEIGH NC SWD INTO
CNTRL SC. RUC DATA SUGGESTS MODERATE
INSTABILITY REMAINS EAST OF THE BOUNDARY WHICH
COMBINED WITH STRONG VERTICAL SHEAR ASSOCIATED WITH
THE LEFT EXIT REGION OF A 85 TO 95 KT MID-LEVEL JET WILL BE
SUFFICIENT FOR SEVERE STORMS AND ISOLATED
SUPERCELLS. ALTHOUGH A FEW TORNADOES REMAIN POSSIBLE
ACROSS ERN AND SRN NC...WSR-88D VWPS SHOW VEERING
LOW-LEVEL WIND PROFILES SUGGESTING THE TORNADO
THREAT MAY BE DECREASING. EVEN SO...THE
THREAT FOR LARGE HAIL AND WIND DAMAGE WILL LIKELY
CONTINUE AS SEVERE STORMS MOVE INTO THE COASTAL
AREAS OVER THE NEXT 1 TO 3 HOURS.
Radar Displays
Here is are Base Reflectivity (REF) and Storm Relative Motion (SRM) images from the Newport/Morehead City WSR-88D radar during the time that the tornado was on the ground near Maysville. The hook echo appendage is clearly visible on the 0.5 deg Base Reflectivity product. The radar beam height is approximately 1200 feet.
The 0.5 deg Storm Relative Motion (SRM) also clearly shows a strong rotational couplet on the 0.5 radar slice that coincides with the base reflectivity. The VR/Shear tool indicates 50kts of rotational velocity which is in the very strong category for mesocyclones.
Storm Damage and Hail Reports
Reports of severe weather began to filter into the office around 7 pm with public and county official reports of a possible tornado touchdown in the Belgrade/Maysville area. A preliminary rating of EF2 has been assigned to the tornado damage in Belgrade. In the next few hours, numerous reports were received of hail as large as one inch and wind gusts as high as 60 to 65 mph. Structural and tree damage due to a possible tornado was reported in the Morehead city area shortly after 8 pm. This storm has preliminarily been assigned an EF1 rating on the enhanced tornado intensity scale.
Damage from Tornado at Belgrade, NC May 11, 2008.
Below is a graphical display of from the Storm Prediction Center of national severe weather reports.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
1016 PM EDT SUN MAY 11 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0645 PM TORNADO BELGRADE 34.87N 77.24W
05/11/2008 ONSLOW NC EMERGENCY MNGR
*** 6 INJ *** TIME APPROXIMATE. DAMAGE TO 25 BUILDINGS IN
THE BELGRADE AREA.
0645 PM TORNADO BELGRADE 34.87N 77.24W
05/11/2008 ONSLOW NC COUNTY OFFICIAL
911 CENTER RECEIVED SEVERAL REPORTS OF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN
IN THE BELGRADE AREA.
0657 PM TORNADO SE MAYSVILLE 34.90N 77.23W
05/11/2008 JONES NC PUBLIC
0705 PM HAIL VANCEBORO 35.30N 77.16W
05/11/2008 E0.88 INCH CRAVEN NC PUBLIC
0730 PM HAIL HAWS RUN 34.68N 77.57W
05/11/2008 E0.75 INCH ONSLOW NC PUBLIC
0736 PM HAIL JACKSONVILLE 34.76N 77.40W
05/11/2008 E0.88 INCH ONSLOW NC PUBLIC
0738 PM HAIL 7 S MAYSVILLE 34.80N 77.23W
05/11/2008 E0.75 INCH ONSLOW NC PUBLIC
0740 PM HAIL JACKSONVILLE 34.76N 77.40W
05/11/2008 E0.88 INCH ONSLOW NC PUBLIC
0743 PM HAIL JACKSONVILLE 34.76N 77.40W
05/11/2008 E0.75 INCH ONSLOW NC PUBLIC
0750 PM HAIL HAVELOCK 34.91N 76.89W
05/11/2008 E1.00 INCH CRAVEN NC PUBLIC
0755 PM HAIL NEW BERN 35.12N 77.08W
05/11/2008 E1.00 INCH CRAVEN NC PUBLIC
0755 PM HAIL HAVELOCK 34.89N 76.93W
05/11/2008 E0.75 INCH CRAVEN NC NWS EMPLOYEE
0759 PM HAIL HAVELOCK 34.89N 76.93W
05/11/2008 E0.75 INCH CRAVEN NC PUBLIC
0808 PM TORNADO 1 N MOREHEAD CITY 34.74N 76.73W
05/11/2008 CARTERET NC PUBLIC
BRIEF TOUCHDOWN WITH TREES DOWN AND TRAMPOLINE FLIPPED
NEAR BRANDYWINE SUBDIVISION.
0810 PM TORNADO MOREHEAD CITY 34.72N 76.73W
05/11/2008 CARTERET NC PUBLIC
REPORT OF TRAILER OVERTURNED IN THE MOREHEAD CITY
WAL-MART PARKING LOT.
0817 PM FUNNEL CLOUD 2 E BEAUFORT 34.72N 76.62W
05/11/2008 AMZ158 NC PUBLIC
FUNNEL CLOUD SPOTTER EAST OF BEAUFORT.
0817 PM FUNNEL CLOUD 2 N MOREHEAD CITY 34.75N 76.73W
05/11/2008 CARTERET NC PUBLIC
POSSIBLE FUNNEL CLOUD TOUCHDOWN JUST NORTH OF MOREHEAD
CITY.
0817 PM HAIL JACKSONVILLE 34.76N 77.40W
05/11/2008 E0.88 INCH ONSLOW NC PUBLIC
NICKEL SIZED HAIL REPORTED NEAR NEW RIVER AIR STATION.
0820 PM HAIL CAMP LEJEUNE 34.70N 77.37W
05/11/2008 E0.75 INCH ONSLOW NC PUBLIC
0827 PM TSTM WND GST BEAUFORT 34.72N 76.65W
05/11/2008 M60.00 MPH CARTERET NC PUBLIC
BEAUFORT TOWN DOCK
0828 PM HAIL CAMP LEJEUNE 34.70N 77.37W
05/11/2008 E0.88 INCH ONSLOW NC PUBLIC
0835 PM TSTM WND GST BEAUFORT 34.72N 76.65W
05/11/2008 M54.00 MPH CARTERET NC PUBLIC
0837 PM HAIL ATLANTIC 34.89N 76.35W
05/11/2008 E0.88 INCH CARTERET NC AMATEUR RADIO
0933 PM TSTM WND DMG RODANTHE 35.61N 75.46W
05/11/2008 DARE NC TRAINED SPOTTER
WIND GUST TO 65 MPH RECORDED.
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