Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 19, 1986Cumberland County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at May 19, 1986, 5:25 PM EDT for Cumberland County, North Carolina. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 19, 1986, 5:25 PM EDT (21:25 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1986, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Cumberland 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 150 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 1986-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 11 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 1986-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 23 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
11 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-88 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
752 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
63 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 KRDU 192128
TORRDU
NCC051-192230-

BULLETIN..EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED

TORNADO WARNING

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
525 PM EDT MON MAY 19 1986

A..THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE
UNTIL 630  PM FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA...CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

B..AT 515 PM A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY  LAW ENFORCEMENT EAST OF RAEFORD
IN HOKE COUNTY MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.


THE PROJECTED PATH OF THIS STORM IS OVER OR NEAR THE FOLLOWING
COMMUNITIES...FAYETTEVILLE.  THIS STORM MAY HAVE TOUCHED DOWN
TWICE.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...IF YOU ARE NEAR ITS PATH...GET OUT OF
YOUR CAR OR MOBILE HOME AND SEEK SHELTER IN A SUBSTANTIAL STR%UCTURE
CLOSE TO YOU. IN A BUILDING...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR. A BASEMENT IS BEST. COVER YOUR HEAD. REPORT ANY SEVERE
WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE.

2128/WAJ

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, May 19, 2:44 PM EDT, 2 hours 41 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
243 PM EDT MON MAY 19 1986

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY OVER PARTS OF NORTH CAROLINA...
AT 230 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED SOME RATHER
HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH
CAROLINA.  THE HEAVIEST STORMS WERE LOCATED SOUTHWEST OF GOLDSBORO
IN WAYNE COUNTY..AND ALONG A LINE FROM NEAR DURHAM TO SOUTHERN PINES.
OTHER VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING IN NORTHEAST SOUTH
CAROLINA..SO THOSE COULD AFFECT PORTIONS OF THE TAR HEEL STATE THIS
AFTERNOON.

SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME QUITE STRONG DURING THE AFTERNOON
AND EVENING..SO PEOPLE SHOULD CONTINUE TO LISTEN TO COMMERCIAL
RADIO..TV..OR WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS.

A SHOWER EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON BROUGHT .41 INCHES OF MUCH NEEDED
RAIN TO THE RALEIGH-DURHAM AIRPORT.
WAJ

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.