Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 40, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 4, 1987Harnett County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 4, 1987, 5:20 PM EDT for Harnett County, North Carolina. It was in force for 60 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
Aug 4, 1987, 5:20 PM EDT (21:20 UTC)
Expired
Aug 4, 1987, 6:20 PM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Harnett 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 4, 5:50 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Harnett, 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, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 122 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 1987-08-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 713 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 1987-08-04The 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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, 5 hours 42 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.

LBC
Special weather statement, Aug 4, 2:09 PM EDT, 3 hours 11 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 WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR
POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
RFG
Special weather statement, Aug 4, 2:59 PM EDT, 2 hours 21 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
Special weather statement, Aug 4, 4:52 PM EDT, 28 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 4, 3:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHarnett, Johnston62 min
Aug 4, 3:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHOrange46 min
Aug 4, 4:03 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHChatham, Orange57 min
Aug 4, 6:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHCumberland65 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.