Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 14, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 2, 1987, 9:17 PM EDT for Wayne County, Wilson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 63 min. 3 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
- May 2, 1987, 9:17 PM EDT (01:17 UTC)
- Expired
- May 2, 1987, 10:20 PM EDT
- In force
- 63 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Wayne County, NC, Wilson 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 9:30 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Wilson, NC | |
| May 2, 9:30 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Wayne, NC | |
| May 2, 9:45 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Wilson, 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 00:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 185 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 731 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -59 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1765 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 0 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -20 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -6 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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, May 2, 7:07 PM EDT, 2 hours 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC 705 PM EDT SAT MAY 2 1987 WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MOVING EAST THROUGH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA... AT 7PM THE STRONGEST AND MOST CONCENTRATED AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING INTO PORTION OF THE SANDHILLS. THIS WAS PART OF A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS THAT EXTENDED FROM WESTERN HOKE COUNTY...ACROSS WESTERN SCOTLAND COUNTY AND SOUTHWEST INTO SOUTH CAROLINA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE SANDHILLS THIS EVENING... ACCOMPANIED BY HEAVY RAIN...SOME GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLY HAIL. PERSONS IN HOKE...CUMBERLAND...SCOTLAND AND ROBESON COUNTIES SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR RAPID CHANGING CONDITIONS FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR SO. IN THE NORTHEAST PIEDMONT...AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING EAST NEAR THE VIRGINIA BORDER IN THE COUNTIES OF PERSON AND EXTREME NORTHERN GRANVILLE. ALSO A COUPLE ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN EASTERN WAKE COUNTY HAVE PRODUCE SOME SMALL HAIL DURING THE PAST HALF HOUR. MARBLE SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED NEAR KNIGHTDALE. LISTEN TO LOCAL RADIO..TV..OR WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS. LBC
Special weather statement, May 2, 8:12 PM EDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC 810 PM EDT SAT MAY 2 1987 SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING MOVING EAST THROUGH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA... AT 8PM SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM SOUTH-CENTRAL VIRGINIA THROUGH SECTIONS OF THE NORTHEAST PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA AND PORTION OF THE SANDHILLS. FREQUENT LIGHTNING...HEAVY RAIN AND SOME SMALL HAIL HAS OCCURRED FROM MANY OF THE THUNDERSTORMS. IN THE NORTHEAST PIEDMONT...SOME OF THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED THROUGH PORTION OF THE TRIANGLE AREA AND WAS CURRENTLY MOVING THROUGH EASTERN WAKE COUNTY AND SOUTHERN FRANKLIN COUNTY. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO THE NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN OF NORTH CAROLINA DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. PEA TO MARBLE SIZE WAS REPORTED BY HAM RADIO SHORTLY AFTER 8PM NEAR WAKE FOREST. A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS ALSO REPORTED WITH THE SAME STORM NEAR WAKE FOREST. LISTEN TO LOCAL RADIO..TV..OR WEATH.ER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS. LBC
The office that day
Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 8:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Johnston | 29 min |
| May 3, 5:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Cumberland | 60 min |
| May 3, 6:42 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Johnston | 28 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987
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.