Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Wilmington, NC
NWS Wilmington, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 24, 1988, 6:52 PM EDT for Bladen County, North Carolina. It was in force for 58 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 24, 1988, 6:52 PM EDT (22:52 UTC)
- Expired
- May 24, 1988, 7:50 PM EDT
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wilmington, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Bladen County, NC
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
The nearest sounding before it
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 203 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 147 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -120 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1329 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 19 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 78 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KILM 242252 SVRILM NCC017-242350- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 652 PM EDT TUE MAY 24 1988 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 750 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF NORTH CAROLINA... BLADEN A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL WAS REPORTED NEAR ELIZABETHTOWN IN BLADEN COUNTY. WIND GUSTS WERE ESTIMATED AT 30 TO 35 MILES AN HOUR. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST ABOUT 35 MILES AN HOUR. ALTHOUGH NO TORNADOES HAVE BEEN DETECTED WITH THIS STORM...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT. TORNADOES CAN DEVELOP WITHOUT WARNING FROM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM. CM
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, May 24, 3:41 PM EDT, 3 hours 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC 330 PM EDT TUE MAY 24 1988 A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA UNTIL 800 PM EDT. AT 330 PM EDT...A THUNDERSTORM WITH DIME SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED IN THE NAGS HEAD AREA OF THE NORTH CAROLINA OUTER BANKS. RADAR INDICATED THE THUNDERSTORM FROM NEAR MANTEO...ACROSS THE OUTER BANKS AT NAGS HEAD...TO 10 MILES OFF THE COAST. ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM WAS IN SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA NEAR FRANKLIN... INTO NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA IN HERTFORD COUNTY. GUSTY WINDS OF 40 MILES AN HOUR WERE REPORTED WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM. SMALL HAIL MAY ALSO ACCOMPANY THIS THUNDERSTORM. ISOLATED SHOWER9S WERE 25 TO 75 MILES OFF THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST BETWEEN CAPE HATTERAS AND OREGON INLET. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. BT
Special weather statement, May 24, 5:53 PM EDT, 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 545 PM EDT TUE MAY 24 1988 ...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND FOR EASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA UNTIL 8 PM THIS EVENING. AT 530 AM...RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE HAIL MOVING INTO THE SOUTHERN COASTAL PLAINS IN SOUTHWEST ROBESON COUNTY...AND NEAR FAYETTEVILLE MOVING TOWARD NORTHERN SAMPSON COUNTY. THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY DOWNPOURS..STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL. MOTORIST SHOULD USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING DUE TO POOLING OF WATER ALONG HIGHWAYS. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. CM
The office that day
Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 6:06 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Robeson | 64 min |
| May 24, 7:19 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Duplin, Sampson | 61 min |
| May 24, 7:57 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Craven, Jones | 63 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.