Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 19, 1987Nash County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Aug 19, 1987, 2:00 PM EDT for Nash County, North Carolina. It was in force for 15 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 19, 1987, 2:00 PM EDT (18:00 UTC)
Expired: Aug 19, 1987, 2:15 PM EDT
In force: 15 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Nash 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 19, 2:15 PM EDT	Hail 1.75	Nash, 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, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 173 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: 598 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -86 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1061 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 55 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 191800
TORRDU
NCC127-191900-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
200 PM EDT WED AUG 19 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 300 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
 
NORTH CAROLINA... NASH
 
NASH COUNTY FIRE AND RESCUE PERSONNEL REPORT A TORNADO WAS SIGHTED
BETWEEN CASTALIA AND NASHVILLE. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING TO THE NORTH.
MARBLE SIZE HAIL WAS ALSO REPORTED IN THIS AREA.
 
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.
 
MES

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 19, 2:35 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Johnston, Nash, Wake	65 min
Aug 19, 2:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Edgecombe	63 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.