Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 87, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 27, 1986Durham County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 27, 1986, 3:33 PM EDT for Durham County, North Carolina. It was in force for 57 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
Aug 27, 1986, 3:33 PM EDT (19:33 UTC)
Expired
Aug 27, 1986, 4:30 PM EDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Durham 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
Aug 27, 3:35 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Durham, NC
Aug 27, 4:05 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Durham, 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, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 92 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 1986-08-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 585 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 1986-08-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 85 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
585 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-63 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
749 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
85 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KRDU 271933
SVRRDU
NCC063-272030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
333 PM EDT WED AUG 27 1986
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
 
NORTH CAROLINA... DURHAM
 
AT 325PM...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR HILLSBOROUGH. THE
STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT AROUND 30 MPH. 3/4 INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED BY
AN OBSERVOR IN HILLSBOROUGH.


 
PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD BE ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL...
DAMAGING WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN.
 
 
 
LG

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 27, 3:12 PM EDT, 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
310 PM EDT WED AUG 27 1986

...THUNDERSTORMS STARTING TO DEVELOPE ACROSS THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT OF
NORTH CAROLINA...

AT 300 PM RADAR SHOWED HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS IN EASTERN ALMANCE....
SOUTHEAST GUILFORD AND RANDOLPH COUNTIES OF MORTH CAROLINA.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE...HEAVY DOWNPOURS...STRONG GUSTY WINDS..
SOME HAIL...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AS THEY MOVE TO THE EAST AT 25 MPH.

PERSONS IN THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD BE ON THE
LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND SHOULD TAKE SHELTER AS
STORMS APPROACH.

RJD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 27, 2:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHOrange61 min
Aug 27, 3:04 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHOrange41 min
Aug 27, 4:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham58 min
Aug 27, 4:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHFranklin68 min
Aug 27, 6:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston64 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.