Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1986
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Wakefield, VA
NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at Jul 2, 1986, 4:51 PM EDT for Chowan County, Perquimans County, North Carolina. It was in force for 69 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 2, 1986, 4:51 PM EDT (20:51 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 2, 1986, 6:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 69 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wakefield, VA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Chowan County, NC, Perquimans County, NC
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2, 5:05 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Chowan, NC |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.
The nearest sounding before it
Cape Hatteras, NC (KHAT), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 134 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1883 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -19 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 702 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 14 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 88 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 100 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHAT 022051 TORHAT NCC041-143-022200- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HATTERAS NC 451 PM EDT WED JUL 2 1986 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA...CHOWAN...PERQUIMANS AND WESTERN AND ADJACENT WATERS OF ALBEMARLE SOUND AT 450 PM EDT...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC NEAR CENTER HILL. THE PROJECTED PATH OF THIS STORM IS OVER OR NEAR THE COMMUNITIES OF EDENTON AND CENTER CROSS IN CHOWAN COUNTY. IN PERQUIMANS COUNTY...NEAR THE COMMUNITIES OF BETHEL AND HERTFORD. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER NOW! ....DETAILS TO FOLLOW. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...IF YOU ARE NEAR ITS PATH GET OUT OF YOUR CAR OR MOBILE HOME AND FIND SHELTER IN A SUBSTANTIAL STRUCTURE CLOSE TO YOU. GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. A BASEMENT IS BEST. COVER YOUR HEAD. REPORT ANY SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. MARINERS IN THE VICINITY OF THIS STORM SHOULD SEEK SAFE HARBOR. IF A WATERSPOUT IS SIGHTED...MOVE AWAY FROM IT AT A RIGHT ANGLE BASED ON ITS MOVEMENT. THUNDERSTORMS IN THIS AREA ARE MOVING EAST AT NEARLY 40 MILES AN HOUR.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jul 2, 2:17 PM EDT, 2 hours 34 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK VA 215 PM EDT WED JUL 2 1986 ...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA.. AT 2PM RADAR INDICATES AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING FROM VICINITY OF CHINCOTEAGUE VIRGINIA SOUTHWESTWARD ACROSS NEWPORT NEWS TO VICINITY OF FRANKLIN. THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS ARE LOCATED BETWEEN NEWPORT NEWS AND FRANKLIN. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING EAST AROUND 30 MPH AND WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THE LOWER CHESAPEAKE BAY SOUTH OF WINDMILL POINT AND THE COASTAL WATERS OF SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA DURING THE NEXT 1 TO 3 HOURS. THE PUBLIC AND MARINE INTEREST IN THE PATHS OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOeULD BE ALERT AND FIND SAFE SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER IS SIGHTED. ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS CONDITIONS WARRANT. JRG
Special weather statement, Jul 2, 3:00 PM EDT, 1 hour 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK VA 245 PM EDT WED JUL 2 1986 ...LARGE THUNDERSTORM AT THE MOUTH OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AT 230 PM EDT RADAR INDICATES AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM 20 MILES NORTHEAST OF CAPE CHARLES SOUTHWESTWARD ACROSS NEWPORT NEWS TO SMITHFIELD VIRGINIA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING EASTWARD AROUND 25 TO 30 MPH AND WILL MOVE ACROSS THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND COASTAL WATERS OF SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA DURING THE NEXT 1 TO 2 HOURS. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. THE PUBLIC AND MARINE INTEREST IN THE PATHS OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD FIND SAFE SHELTER UNTIL THESE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE EASTWARD OUT OF THE AREA. ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS CONDITIONS WARRANT. JRG
The office that day
Everything else NWS Wakefield, VA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2, 5:38 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | AKQ | Currituck | 67 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes in 1986
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.