Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

July 26, 1986Catawba County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 26, 1986, 6:46 PM EDT for Catawba County, North Carolina. It was in force for 64 min. 3 reports 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 26, 1986, 6:46 PM EDT (22:46 UTC)
Expired
Jul 26, 1986, 7:50 PM EDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Catawba 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 26, 7:00 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Catawba, NC
Jul 26, 7:15 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Catawba, NC
Jul 26, 7:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Catawba, 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 127 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1986-07-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 173 joules per kilogram.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.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1986-07-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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.
Mixed-layer CAPE
173 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-172 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1166 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KCLT 262246
SVRCLT
NCC035-262350-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC
646 PM EDT SAT JUL 26 1986
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 750 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
 
THE NORTHERN FOOTHILLS OF NORTH CAROLINA... CATAWBA
 
AT 635 PM CHARLOTTE WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER THE
NORTHEASTERN PORTION OF CATAWBA COUNTY MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTH..DOWN THE
CATAWBA RIVER..ABOUT 5 MPH.  GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WERE
REPORTED IN THE STONY POINT SECTION OF ALEXANDER COUNTY AT 630 AS THIS
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVED THROUGH.  EVERYONE ON THE CATAWBA RIVER AzBOVE
LAKE NORMAN AND EVERYONE ON THE HEADWATERS OF LAKE NORMAN SHOULD SEEK
SAFE HARBOR IMMEDIATELY.
 
THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...HEAVY RAINS...
DAMAGING WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.
 
CLARK

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 26, 3:03 PM EDT, 3 hours 43 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC
300 PM EDT SAT JUL 26 1986

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM EDT
THIS SATURDAY EVENING FOR MOST OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
INCLUDING THE COUNTIES OF CATAWBA..MECKLENBURG..UNION..ANSON..
MONTGOMERY..STANLY..CABARRUS AND RICHMOND.

AT 250 PM WEATHER RADAR DETECTED A SCATTERED AREA OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS FROM NEAR
WEST JEFFERSON SOUTHWARD TO ABOUT 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
ASHEVILLE. THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT ABOUT 15 MPH.

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED TO THE CHARLOTTE OFFICE
OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE THROUGH 3 PM.

THE NEXT STATEMENT IS PLANNED FOR hAROUND 5 PM EDT.

RPG
Special weather statement, Jul 26, 5:01 PM EDT, 1 hour 45 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC
500 PM EDT SAT JUL 26 1986

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PORTION
OF NORTH CAROLINA INCLUDING CATAWBA..MECKLENBURG..UNION..ANSON..
MONTGOMERY..STANLY..CABARRUS..AND RICHMOND COUNTIES.

AT 5 O'CLOCK..CHARLOTTE WEATHER RADAR DETECTED NO PRECIPITATION
WITHIN ANY OF THESE COUNTIES.  A SHOWER OVER NORTHEASTERN BURKE
COUNTY..JUST WEST OF HICKORY..WILL MOVE INTO CATAWBA COUNTY BY
530.

ELSEWHERE..CHARLOTTE WEATHER RADAR DETECTED VERY HEAVY THUNDER
STORMS NEAR GREENSBORO AND IN THE FAYETTEVILLE AREA.  ALL OF THE
VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS AND SHOWERS WERE MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTH
EAST ABOUT 15 MPH.

NO REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER HAD BEEN RECEIVED BY THE CHARLOTTE
OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE THROUGH 5 O'CLOCK.

THE NEXT STATEMENT ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE WILL BE AT 7 PM.

CLARK
Special weather statement, Jul 26, 6:18 PM EDT, 28 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
620 PM EDT SAT JUL 26 1986

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWS A CLUSTER OF HEAVY
THUNDERSTORMS FROM ASHEVILLE SOUTH TO HENDERSONVILLE IN NORTH
CAROLINA.

THE THUNDERSTORMS SHOW VERY LITTLE MOVEMENT. THESE THUNDERSTORMS
CONTIAN HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS ALONG WITH POSSIBLE HAIL.
THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORM WAS A SHORT DISTANCE SOUTHEAST OF
HENDERSONVILLE.

SEVERE THUNDERSTRM WARNI=NGS MIGHT BE NECESSARY IF FURTHER INTENSIFI-
CATION OCCURS.

ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS THEY ARE NEEDED.
AS
Special weather statement, Jul 26, 6:20 PM EDT, 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
620 PM EDT SAT JUL 26 1986

THUNDERSTORMS ARE RAPIDLY DEVELOPING OVER PARTS OF NORTHERN GREENVILLE
COUNTY THIS EVENING. THEY EXTEND FROM JUST NORTH OF THE CITY OF
GREENVILLE TO THE NORTH CAROLINA BORDER.

THERE WILL BE LITTLE IF ANY MOVEMENT TO THE STORMS AND THEY WILL BE
ACCOMPANIED BY HEAVY DOWNPOURS..GUSTY WIND AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.
HAIL IS ALSO POSSIBLE.

PERSONS IN NORTHERN GREENVIiLLE COUNTY SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE STORMS
FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.
SP

The office that day

Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 26, 4:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMacon50 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.