Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 4, 1987Chatham County, Orange County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Aug 4, 1987, 4:03 PM EDT for Chatham County, Orange County, North Carolina. It was in force for 57 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, 4:03 PM EDT (20:03 UTC)
Expired: Aug 4, 1987, 5:00 PM EDT
In force: 57 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Chatham County, NC, Orange 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, 4:15 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Chatham, NC
Aug 4, 4:30 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Orange, 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, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 68 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KRDU 042003
TORRDU
NCC037-135-042100-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
403 PM EDT TUE AUG 4 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF
 
NORTH CAROLINA... NORTHERN CHATHAM... SOUTHERN ORANGE
 
A 4 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO JUST WEST OF
CARRBORO IN SOUTHEAST ORANGE COUNTY MOVING SOUTHEAST AROUND 10 MPH.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...IF YOU ARE NEAR ITS PATH GET OUT OF
YOUR CAR OR MOBILE HOME AND FIND SHELTER IN A SUBSTANTIAL STRUCTURE
CLOSE TO YOU.  GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.
A BASEMENT IS BEST. COVER YOUR HEAD.
 
KK

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, Aug 4, 11:38 AM EDT, 4 hours 25 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, 1 hour 54 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, 1 hour 4 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, 3:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Harnett, Johnston	62 min
Aug 4, 3:44 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Orange	46 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

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1987 Every tornado warning in 1987 Tornadoes 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.