Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 73, NWS Wilmington, NC

August 2, 1986Craven County, Pamlico County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 2, 1986, 2:00 PM EDT for Craven County, Pamlico County, North Carolina. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 2, 1986, 2:00 PM EDT (18:00 UTC)
Expired
Aug 2, 1986, 3:00 PM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Craven County, NC, Pamlico 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, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 126 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 1986-08-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 752 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 1986-08-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -26 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
752 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-68 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
993 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-11 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 021806
SVRILM
NCC049-137-021900-

BULLETIN  IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  WILMINGTON NC
2 PM EDT SAT AUG 2 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 3 PM EDT... FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTH CAROLINA...CRAVEN...PAMLICO

AT 2 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN EXTREME SOUTHWEST
CRAVEN COUNTY.

THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH AND WILL MOVE ACROSS CRAVEN
COUNTY AND INTO PAMLICO COUNTY BY 230 PM EDT.
THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY CAUSE DAMAGING WINDS..LARGE HAIL..FREQUENT
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND LOCAL FLOODING. SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.

REPORT ALL SEVERE WEATHER TO VYOUR NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.

STEVENSON

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, Aug 2, 1:44 PM EDT, 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
 140 PM EDT SAT AUG 2 1986

VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY OVER EASTERN NORTH
CAROLINA AND THE TIDEWATER VIRGINIA AREA.

AT 130 THIS AFTERNOON CLUSTERS OF VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE BUILDING
EAST OF I-95 FROM NORTH OF WILMINGTON TO THE VIRGINIA LINE NORTH OF
TARBORO.

STORMS POSSIBLY PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS, SMALL HAIL, AND VIVID
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WERE OBSERVED IN DUPLIN COUNTY, NORTH HAMPTON AND
SOUTH OF VIRGINIA BEACH JUST INSIDE VIRGINIA.

THE TREND WILL SEE CONTINUED DEVLOPMENT OF VERY STRONG AND POTENTIALLY
DANGEROUS STORMS AS AFTERNOON HEATING CONTINUES.  PERSONS PLANNINBG
OUTDOOR ACTIVITY IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD KEEP A WATCHFUL EYE
OUT AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
MOVEMENT  WAS NORTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 MILES AN HOUR.

DEMAURICE
Special weather statement, Aug 2, 1:48 PM EDT, 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
145 PM EDT SAT AUG 2 1986

NUMEROUS VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE COASTAL PLAINS OF SOUTHEAST
NORTH CAROLINA.

AT 130 THIS AFTERNOON VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS DOT THE LANDSCAPE FROM
BEAUFORT COUNTY IN CENTRAL COASTAL NORTH CAROLINA TO NORTHERN COLUMBUS
AND BRUNSWICK COUNTIES IN THE SOUTHERN COASTAL AREA.

THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN A SHORT LINE FROM SOUTHEAST OF
KENANSVILLE IN DUPLIN COUNTY.. ACROSS WESTERN PENDER COUNTY TO THE
LELAND AND BOLTON AREAS IN THE SOUTHERN COASTAL PLAINS.

THE VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED SOUTH FROM MARYSVILLE IN
JONES COUNTY TO NEAR BOGUE INLET.  AN ISOLATED HEAVY THUNDERSTORM
WAS  ON THE WESTERN BORDER OF PAMLICO SOUND NEAR ORIENTAL  AND SCATTERED
ACROSS BEAUFORT COUNTY.
.

THESE STORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEAST AROUND 8 MILES AN HOUR.

DUE TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT AND INTENSITY OF THESE STORMS LOCALIZED
STREET  AND LOW LYING AREA FLOODING COULD OCCUR.  FREQUENT DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING.. HEAVY DOWNPOURS REDUCING VISIBILITY AND SHIFTING GUSTY
WINDS WILL ALSO BE PRESENT.

ONCE AGAIN.. THESE STORMS ARE VERY HEAVY.  BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIFONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND
POSSIBLY WARNINGS.

OSWALD

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.