Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 16, 1987, 1:08 PM EDT for Edgecombe County, North Carolina. It was in force for 62 min. 1 report 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
- Apr 16, 1987, 1:08 PM EDT (17:08 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 16, 1987, 2:10 PM EDT
- In force
- 62 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Edgecombe 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 16, 1:35 PM EDT | Hail 1.75 | Edgecombe, 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
Cape Hatteras, NC (KHAT), launched 12:00Z, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 203 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
- 55 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -23 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 885 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 132 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 154 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KRDU 161708 SVRRDU NCC065-161810- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 108 PM EDT THU APR 16 1987 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 210 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF NORTH CAROLINA... EDGECOMBE AT 1 PM EDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN BY RADAR NEAR ROCKY MOUNT MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THIS STORM CONTAINS LARGE AMOUNTS OF OFHAIL.THIS STORM WILL PAST THROUGH NORTHERN EDGECOMB COUNTY. PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD BE ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. RHJ
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, Apr 16, 12:18 PM EDT, 50 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC 1218 PM EDT THU APR 16 1987 ...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA... AT NOON EDT WEATHER RADAR SHOWED THAT VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED RAPIDLY IN SOUTHERN WAKE COUNTY...NEAR GOLDSBORO IN WAYNE COUNTY...AND ALSO IN EXTREME EASTERN PITT COUNTY. THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTH ABOUT 20 MPH. SOME STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE LATER THIS AFTERNOON. IN FACT...THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER MOST OF NORTH CAROLINA THROUGH THIS EVENING. THE STORMS WHICH DEVELOP TODAY WILL BE ESPECIALLY LIKELY TO PRODUCE HAIL BECAUSE OF VERY COLD AIR ALOFT. IN ADDITION...A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT...THE NORTHEAST PIEDMONT... AND THE NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN THIS AFTERNOON. PEOPLE IN NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER AND LISTEN FOR LATER INFORMATION REGARDING THIS SITUATION. WAJ INI
Special weather statement, Apr 16, 12:42 PM EDT, 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC 1242 PM EDT THU APR 16 1987 THE WILSON COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENT REPORTED THAT A THUNDERSTORM MOVED OVER THE CITY OF WILSON AND PRODUCED QUITE A BIT OF MARBLE SIZE HAIL AROUND 1230 EDT. RADAR SHOWED THIS STORM MOVING TO THE NORTH ABOUT 20 MPH. THIS MOVEMENT WOULD PUT IT OVER OR NEAR THE CITY OF ROCKY MOUNT BY 100 PM EDT. LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. WAJ INI
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.