Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 40, NWS Wilmington, NC

July 2, 1986Washington County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 2, 1986, 5:12 PM EDT for Washington County, North Carolina. It was in force for 63 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 2, 1986, 5:12 PM EDT (21:12 UTC)
Expired
Jul 2, 1986, 6:15 PM EDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Washington County, NC

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Cape Hatteras, NC (KHAT), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 116 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, Cape Hatteras, NC at 12:00Z on 1986-07-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1883 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, Cape Hatteras, NC at 12:00Z on 1986-07-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 88 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 2, 3:51 PM EDT, 1 hour 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
345 PM EDT WED JUL 02 1986

AT 330 PM EDT...VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER PORTIONS OF
NORTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA.

VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE NEAR SUNBURY...IN GATES COUNTY...
OVER NORTHHAMPTON COUNTY...AND CLUSTERED NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE
CHEASAPEAKE BAY. THESE VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT
NEARLY 40 MILES AN HOUR.

TORRENTIAL RAINFALL...FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...
AND SMALL HAIL IS POSSIBLE IN THE VICINITY OF THESE VERY HEAVY
THUNDERSTORMS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS...AND BE READY TO TAKE SHELTER
IMMEDIATELY IF SEVERE WEATHER APPROAXCHES. LISTEN TO LOCAL RADIO OR
TELEVISION STATIONS OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR
WARNINGS.

RCJ
Special weather statement, Jul 2, 4:49 PM EDT, 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
448 PM EDT WED JUL 02 1986

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS EFFECTIVE FOR A LARGE
PART OF SOUTHERN AND EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND THE
ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS.

AT 433 THIS AFTERNOON..A BAND OF HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDED FROM NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA NEAR ELIZABETH CITY
THROUGH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA TO THE PIEDMONT EAST OF
CHARLOTTE.  THE HEAVIEST STORMS WERE CLUSTERED OVER THE
NORTH CAROLINA COASTAL PLAINS BETWEEN ROCKY MOUNT..GREENVILLE
AND WILLIAMSTON.  A WIND GUST OF 46 MILES AN HOUR WAS REPORTED
AT ROCKY MOUNT WILSON AIRPORT A LITTLE AFTER 4 OCLOCK THIS
AFTERNOON WITH THESE STORMS.

THE BAND OF PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST ABOUT 23 MILES AN
HOUR AS COVERAGE INCREASED SINCE 330 THIS AFTERNOON.

REMEMBER..A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE
WATCH AREA.  PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

AEP

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 2, 5:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMWashington67 min
Jul 2, 7:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMCraven, Jones45 min
Jul 2, 7:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMPamlico45 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.