03 April 2006 - Eastern NC Severe Weather Outbreak (Images)

[brunota2003]

Alright, this is the first "Case Study" on an event that I have written. It is my personal favorite, I do not know why though. Most of my "Case Studies" are focused on the coast, as I live on the coast...but I have been trying to broaden them out some here recently. (For those who do not know, all times are in Zulu, or GMT. To convert, it is 4 hours ahead of EDT, or 5 hours ahead of EST. So, for EDT, 12Z - 4 = 8 am. For EST, 12Z - 5 = 7 am)

03 April 2006 – Eastern NC Severe Weather Outbreak

Event Overview:
In the morning hours of April 3, a cold front was positioned in the Ohio River Valley, ready to move into the Carolina’s. Ahead of this cold front was warm, moist air, with Cherry Point recording a high of 80 degrees by 1730Z. As if to only want to worsen things, a warm front also moved across the area, as evidenced by the winds veering to the south after passage of the front. This increased moisture across Eastern NC, and also helped spark off some thunderstorms. By 18Z, the pre-frontal band of showers was starting to work their way off of the coast and out into the ocean. The sun came back out and reheated the atmosphere, allowing another band of storms to form by 22Z. As these bands moved through, there were numerous reports of large hail, including some that approached golf ball sized (1.75”). By 05Z, all of the severe weather was over, with only a few showers remaining over coastal NC.

Some Hail Reports of .75” in diameter or greater in the CWA (the lowest limits of severe hail):

Time Hail Size Location of hail County State
1650 .75 7 SE WASHINGTON BEAUFORT NC
1713 1.75 BRIDGETON CRAVEN NC
1743 .75 4 W BAYBORO PAMLICO NC
1905 1.00 OCRACOKE HYDE NC
2208 .75 5 NW BEULAVILLE DUPLIN NC
2208 .75 4 NE SNOW HILL GREENE NC
2225 .75 DEEP RUN LENOIR NC
2225 1.00 KINSTON LENOIR NC
2251 .75 GREENVILLE PITT NC
2320 1.00 BRIDGETON CRAVEN NC
0021 .88 HAVELOCK CRAVEN NC


Location of frontal boundary and warm front at 12Z on the 3 of April, notice the warm front in northern Virginia and Northern NC.


First pre-frontal boundary thunderstorms moving through Eastern NC, around 17Z.


First wave of thunderstorms has moved off the coast, the second wave is forming in east central NC. Also note the squall line in Western NC up through Pennsylvania, that line marks the leading edge of the cold front. Image taken at 22Z.


Squall line is advancing through Virginia, and the severe thunderstorms in Eastern NC are nearing the coast. Image taken at 23Z.


00Z 4 April 2006 Surface map showing the cold front nearing Raleigh.


05Z Radar imagery showing almost all associated rainfall with the front off of the coast. At this point, the severe weather threat across the area had ended.


06Z Frontal Analysis showing the cold front finally has pushed off the coast.

With the severe weather over and the front off the coast, on the 4th of April, temperatures at Cherry Point only reached 64 degrees, a blessing compared to the 80 degrees the day before. The front also knocked down the humidity, which in coastal Carolina is normally pretty bad. However, by the 6th of April, the humidity was back up to its pre-frontal status and the temperatures were beginning to increase as well. By the 7th of April, temperatures were back up to 80 degrees, just in time for another cold front and another round of severe weather to impact the area on the 8th of April. Luckily for eastern NC, the weather did not turn out as rough as the outbreak on the 3rd, with no reports received of severe weather from MHX’s County Warning Area (CWA).

For all of the reports received by the NWS of severe weather for the 3rd and 8th of April, please visit these links:
3 April 2006: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/060403_rpts.html
8 April 2006: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/060408_rpts.html



Picture 1: A thunderstorm exploding over Jones County, picture taken in Craven County in Havelock, NC.
Picture 2: Pea sized hail in Havelock, NC.
(Photos used with permission from the Bruno’s.)

Case Study Team:
Timothy