Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 64, NWS Wilmington, NC

July 22, 1986Craven County, Jones County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 22, 1986, 6:09 PM EDT for Craven County, Jones County, North Carolina. It was in force for 51 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 22, 1986, 6:09 PM EDT (22:09 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 1986, 7:00 PM EDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Craven County, NC, Jones 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, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 158 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 1986-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2748 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1986-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 18 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
2748 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
681 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
38 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 KILM 222209
SVRILM
NCC049-103-222300-

BULLETIN  IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  WILMINGTON NC
609 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTH CAROLINA...SOUTHERN CRAVEN AND SOUTHERN JONES

AT 605 PM EDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY RADAR OVER
SOUTHWEST CRAVEN COUNTY..ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF HAVELOCK
NORTH CAROLINA. THIS STORMS MOVEMENT IS SLOW AND ERATIC.

THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY CAUSE DAMAGING WINDS..LARGE HAIL..FREQUENT
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND LOCAL FLOODING. SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.

REPORT ALL SEVERE WEATHERL TO YOUR NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.

HINN

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 22, 5:04 PM EDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  WILMINGTON NC
500 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 1986

SCATTERED VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER SOUTHEAST NORTH
CAROLINA.

PEOPLE IN NEW HAVOVER AND BRUNSWICK COUNTIES SHOULD BE ALERT FOR
VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..POSSIBLE STRONG GUSTY
WIND AND HAIL.

AT 445 THIS AFTERNOON A CLUSTER OF VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS COVERED
A LARGE PORTION OF NEW HANOVER AND BRUNSWICK COUNTIES.

ELSEWHERE SCATTERED VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN JONES AND CRAVEN
COUNTIES IN THE CENTRAL COASTAL SECTION. ASLO SCATTERED VERY HEAVY
THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL COASTAL PLAINS.

IN SOUTH CAROLINA A LARGE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS COVERED THE SOUTH COASTAL
SECTION AND EXTENDED TO MURRELLS INLET IN THE SOUTH COASTAL SECTION.

MOVEMENT OF THE THUNDERSTORMS HAS NOT BEEN DETERMINED.
DS
Special weather statement, Jul 22, 5:46 PM EDT, 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
540 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 1986

AT 430 PM EDT..THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS AND
FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES WERE MOVING FROM SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA INTO
NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING INTO
HERTFORD...GATES AND CAMDEN COUNTIES.

RESIDENTS IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS DURING THE EARLY EVENING. HEAVY DOWNPOURS...GUSTY
WINDS...AND FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES WILL ACCOMPANY THESE
THUNDERSTORMS.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO DEVELOPING OVER SECTIONS OF SOUTHEAST
COASTAL NORTH CAROLINA...MAINLY BETWEEN NEW BERN AND WILMINGTON.

ANOTHER AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS TO THE WEST OF ROCKEY MOUNT
AND GOLDSBORO.

OFFSHORE...RAIN AND ISOLATED HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE ABOUT 10 TO 100
MILES OFF THE COAST OF THE OUTER BANKS. THE HEAVIER THUNDERSTORMS WERE"
30 TO 75 MILES OFFSHORE OF THE COAST BETWEEN CAPE LOOKOUT AND CAPE
HATTERAS.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST SOUTHEAST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR.

BT
Special weather statement, Jul 22, 5:55 PM EDT, 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  WILMINGTON NC
553 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 1986

SCATTERED VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER SOUTHEAST NORTH
CAROLINA.

PEOPLE IN SAMPSON..DUPLIN..CRAVEN..PAMLICO..CARTERET..COLUMBUS..
BRUNSWICK AND NEW HANOVER COUNTIES SHOULD BE ALERT FOR HEAVY DOWNPOURS..
FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..POSSIBLE STRONG GUSTY WIND AND HAIL.
MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR FLOODING OF INTERSECTIONS AND LOW LYING
ROADS. THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS COULD ALSO PRODUCE SOME LOCAL
FLOODING.

AT 530 THIS AFTERNOON LARGE CLUSTERS OF VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE
OVER CRAVEN COUNTY IN THE CENTRAL COASTAL SECTION..OVER BRUNSWICK AND
NEW HANOVER COUNTIES IN THE SOUTHERN COASTAL SECTION AND SAMPSON AND
COLUMBUS COUNTIES IN THE SOUTHERN COASTAL PLAIN.

SCATTERED VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL COASTAL
PLAINS.

IN SOUTH CAROLINA THUNDERSTORMS COVERED THE SOUTH COASTA8L SECTION
AND EXTENDED TO GEORGETOWN IN THE NORTH COASTAL SECTION.

OFFSHORE A LARGE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WERE 75 MILES EAST OF
WILMINGTON.

THE AREAS OF THUNDERSTORMS SHOWED LITTLE MOVEMENT BETWEEN 445 AND
530.
DS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 22, 6:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMSampson60 min
Jul 22, 7:10 PM EDTTornado WarningILMOnslow50 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.