Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Wilmington, NC

May 17, 1988Columbus County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1988, 4:17 PM EDT for Columbus County, North Carolina. It was in force for 63 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
May 17, 1988, 4:17 PM EDT (20:17 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1988, 5:20 PM EDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Columbus 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
May 17, 4:34 PM EDTHail 0.75Columbus, 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

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 196 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1988-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 253 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1988-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 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
253 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-122 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1306 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
61 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 3:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMRobeson64 min
May 17, 3:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMSampson35 min
May 17, 4:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMCraven60 min
May 17, 5:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBladen26 min
May 17, 5:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMDuplin57 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1988

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.