RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A severe thunderstorm watch was issued Sunday afternoon for several counties in central North Carolina, according to the National Weather Service in Raleigh.

The watch comes as the CBS 17 Storm Team has declared Sunday a Weather Alert Day.

The weather service issued the watch just after 3:20 p.m. until 11 p.m. Sunday for Granville, Halifax, Northampton, Person, Vance and Warren counties. Mecklenburg County in southern Virginia is also in the watch.

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Counties outside central North Carolina that are also part of the watch are: Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Hertford, Pasquotank, and Perquimans, the weather service said.

The towns in the severe thunderstorm watch include Creedmoor, Enfield, Henderson, Kittrell, Norlina, Oxford, Roanoke Rapids, Roxboro, Scotland Neck, and Warrenton.

A severe thunderstorm watch is issued when conditions are favorable for the development of severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area.

A severe thunderstorm by definition is a thunderstorm that produces one-inch hail or larger in diameter and/or winds equal or exceed 58 miles an hour.

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