Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 28, 1987Warren County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Aug 28, 1987, 10:04 PM EDT for Warren County, North Carolina. It was in force for 56 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 28, 1987, 10:04 PM EDT (02:04 UTC)
Expired
Aug 28, 1987, 11:00 PM EDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Warren 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 28, 10:15 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Warren, 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 00:00Z, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 165 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 00:00Z on 1987-08-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1742 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1987-08-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 43 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1742 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1861 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
67 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KRDU 290204
TORRDU
NCC185-290300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1004 PM EDT FRI AUG 28 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
 
NORTH CAROLINA... NORTHERN WARREN
 
WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN NORTHERN WARREN COUNTY
NORTHWEST OF NORLINA MOVING EAST.
 
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.
 
RA

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 28, 7:53 PM EDT, 2 hours 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
753 PM EDT FRI AUG 28 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY IN THE NORTHEAST
PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA...

AT 750 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AND SATELLITE PICTURES
SHOWED A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS PERSON...
GRANVILLE...AND VANCE COUNTIES.

CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR FURTHER THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT BEFORE
MIDNIGHT ACROSS THE NORTHEAST PIEDMONT AND NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN.
SOME THUNDERSTORMS COULD CAUSE STRONG AND GUSTY WIND AND HAIL. PEOPLE
IN THIS PART OF NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING
WEATHER CONDITIONS.

LISTEN TO LOCAL RADIO...TELEVISION...OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR
FURTHER STATEMENTS.
^
LGL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 28, 8:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHPerson56 min
Aug 29, 6:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham, Moore41 min
Aug 29, 7:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHLee48 min
Aug 29, 7:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHMoore33 min
Aug 29, 7:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHarnett64 min
Aug 29, 7:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHCumberland62 min

Nearby

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