Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 38, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 4, 1987, 3:18 PM EDT for Harnett County, Johnston County, North Carolina. It was in force for 62 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 4, 1987, 3:18 PM EDT (19:18 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 4, 1987, 4:20 PM EDT
- In force
- 62 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Harnett County, NC, Johnston 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 3:35 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Johnston, NC | |
| Aug 4, 4:15 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Johnston, 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, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 136 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
- 713 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -108 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1077 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 23 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 54 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, Aug 4, 11:38 AM EDT, 3 hours 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
1135 AM EDT TUE AUG 4 1987
NORTH CAROLINA SKYWARN OUTLOOK...THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS...WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMA{GING WINDS...OVER MOST OF
NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
LBCSpecial weather statement, Aug 4, 2:09 PM EDT, 1 hour 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC 205 PM EDT TUE AUG 4 1987 VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPING IN THE TRIANGLE... AT 200 PM THIS AFTERNOON...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPING NEAR THE COUNTY LINE OF WAKE AND CHATHAM COUNTIES. THE STRONGEST PART OF THE STORM WAS LOCATED BETWEEN THE COMMUNITIES OF APEX...CARPENTER...AND FARRINGTON NEAR LAKE JORDAN. THE STORM IS MOVING SLOWLY EAST SOUTHEAST AND IS LIKELY TO AFFECT MUCH OF SOUTHERN WAKE COUNTY BETWEEN NOW AND 330 PM. PEOPLE SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE COVER FROM SUDDEN HEAVY RAIN...STRONG WIND... INTENSE LIGHTNING...AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL. LISTEN TO LOCAL RADIO..TV..OR WEATHE R RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS. RFG
Special weather statement, Aug 4, 2:59 PM EDT, 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC 258 PM EDT TUE AUG 4 1987 ...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE EASTERN PIEDMONT... SINCE 200 PM...SEVERAL AREAS OF THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED QUICKLY OVER THE EASTERN PIEDMONT. AT 250 PM RADAR DETECTED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHERN WAKE COUNTY WITH THE MOST INTENSE STORM NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF WILLOW SPRING. THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN JOHNSTON COUNTY BETWEEN NOW AND 400 PM THIS AFTERNOON. OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE IN SOUTHERN DURHAM COUNTY NEAR PARKWOOD ...IN ORANGE COUNTY MOVING TOWARD CARRBORO AND CHAPEL HILL...IN NORTHERN AND SOUTHWESTERN CHATHAM COUNTYY...AND NEAR THE LEE/HARNETT COUNTY LINE. LISTEN TO LOCAL RADIO..TV..OR WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS. RFG
The office that day
Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 3:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Orange | 46 min |
| Aug 4, 4:03 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Chatham, Orange | 57 min |
| Aug 4, 5:20 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Harnett | 60 min |
| Aug 4, 6:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Cumberland | 65 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.