Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 2, NWS Wilmington, NC
NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at May 10, 1988, 4:17 PM EDT for Craven County, North Carolina. It was in force for 33 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 10, 1988, 4:17 PM EDT (20:17 UTC)
- Expired
- May 10, 1988, 4:50 PM EDT
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wilmington, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Craven 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 10, 4:20 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Craven, 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
Cape Hatteras, NC (KHAT), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 145 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
- 22 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -102 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1068 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 110 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 91 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KILM 102017 TORILM NCC049-102050- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 417 PM EDT TUE MAY 10 1988 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 450 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF NORTH CAROLINA... CRAVEN AT 414 PM THE CRAVEN COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENT REPORTED A TORNADO OVER BRIDGETOWN NORTH CAROLINA THAT IS JUST NORTH OF NEW BERN. THE TORNADO IS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 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 HaEAD. AH
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, May 10, 1:50 PM EDT, 2 hours 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 145 PM EDT TUE MAY 19 1988 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE EXTREME SOUTH COAST OF NORTH CAROLINA... AT 130 PM THIS AFTERNOON...WILMINGTON RADAR DETECTED DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN ALONG THE EXTREME SOUTH COAST AND COASTAL WATERS OF NORTH CAROLINA. THESE STORMS WERE THE NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF A BAND OF STRONG STORMS MOVING OUT OF NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA. THE STRONGEST STORMS EXTENDED FROM THE IMMEDIATE COASTAL WATERS NEAR MYRTLE BEACH...NORTH TO SHALLOTE NORTH CAROLINA. MARINERS SHOULD REMAIN CLEAR OF THESE STORMS AS THEY MOVE INTO THE COASTAL WATERS NEAR SHALLOTE AND FROM THE SOUTH CAROLINA COAST INTO THE NORTH CAROLINA COASTAL WATERS. SOME OF THESE STORMS HAVE ALREADY PRODUCED 1/4 INCH HAIL AND HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE VERY STRONG GUSTY WINDS. OTHERWISE...RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ALON|G THE CAROLINA COAST FROM JUST NORTH OF CHARLESTON... ACROSS GEORGETOWN AND INTO EXTREME SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA. MOST STORMS WERE MOVING EAST NEAR 25 MILES AN HOUR. RC
Special weather statement, May 10, 2:51 PM EDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 245 PM EDT TUE MAY 19 1988 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH COAST... SEVERAL THUNDERSTORMS WERE DETECTED IN AND AROUND THE GREATER WILMINGTON AREA AND EXTENDED NORTH TO JUST INLAND FROM THE COAST ...NEAR HOLLYRIDGE. THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING ...AND SMALL HAIL. THE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. PERSONS ALONG THE SOUTH COAST OF NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD REMAIN WEATHER ALERT THIS AFTERNOON AS THESE STORMS PASS THROUGH THE AREA. MARINERS SHOULD ALSO REMAIN WEATHER ALERT AS A FEW OF THESE STORMS ARE LIKELY TO MOVE INTO THE COASTAL WATERS. IF STORMS ARE SIGHTED...YOU SHOULD NAVIGATE AWAY FROM THE STORMS INTO BETTER WEATHER CONDITIONS. OTHER SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE DETECTED IN EAST CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA...AROUND AND JUST WEST OF NEW BERN. A BAND OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSHOWERS WERE EXTENDING ALONG THE COASTAL WATERS OF SOUTH CAROLINA... NORTH ACROSS THE IMMEDIATE COASTAL AREAS OF NORTH CAROLINA ...TO JUST WEST OF PAMLICO SOUND. RC
The office that day
Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10, 3:07 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Onslow | 63 min |
| May 10, 3:18 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Onslow | 32 min |
| May 10, 3:59 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Jones | 31 min |
| May 10, 4:13 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Craven | 47 min |
| May 10, 6:48 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Bladen, Sampson | 62 min |
| May 10, 7:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Duplin | 56 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes 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.