Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Wilmington, NC

July 8, 1986Robeson County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Jul 8, 1986, 7:00 PM EDT for Robeson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 60 min. 2 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 8, 1986, 7:00 PM EDT (23:00 UTC)
Expired
Jul 8, 1986, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Robeson 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 8, 7:00 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Robeson, NC
Jul 8, 7:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Robeson, 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, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 176 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 1986-07-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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 1986-07-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 17 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1759 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
50 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 082302
TORILM
NCC155-090000-

BULLETIN  IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  WILMINGTON NC
700 PM EDT TUE JUL 8  1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE
UNTIL 800 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTH CAROLINA...ROBESON

AT 700 PM EDT THE WILMINGTON WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO
AT ROWLAND IN SOUTHERN ROBESON COUNTY.

THE TORNADO WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT ABOUT 5 MILES AN HOUR.

ROBESON COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENT REPORTED TREES DOWN IN ROWLAND
WITH AT LEAST ONE PERSON INJURED.
.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO..YOU SHOULD GO TO A BASEMENT
IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE GO TO A SMALL ROOM NEAR THE CENTER OF THE
BUILDING..ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.  GET UNDER SOMETHING STURDY..
GET DOWN AGAINST THE WALL AND PROTECT YOUR HEAD.  ABANDON CARS AND
MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDY BUILDING. IF CAUGHT IN THE OPEN..LIE FLAT
IN THE NEAREST DITCH WITH YOUR ARMS SHLIELDING YOUR HEAD.

REPORT ALL SEVERE WEATHER TO YOUR NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.

FILION

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 8, 6:49 PM EDT, 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
 645 PM EDT TUE JUL 8 1986

A VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPED IN ONSLOW COUNTY A FEW MILES NORTH
OF JACKSONVILLE BETWEEN 530 AND 6 PM.  THE SHERRIFF DEPARTMENT REPORTED
FREQUENT LIGHTNING WHICH WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR A FIRE IN THE JACKSONVILLE
AREA. AT 630 PM THE RADAR SHOWED THE STORM WAS WEAKENING BUT IT IS STILL
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

IN PENDER COUNTY ANOTHER VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM WAS IN PROGRESS AT 630.
THIS STORM DEVELOPED RAPIDLY AND IT WAS MOVING SLOWLY TO THE SOUTHEAST
TOWARD BURGAW.  FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN WILL
ACCOMPANY THE STORM AND POSSIBLY @SOME HAIL.
RK

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.