Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Wilmington, NC
NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1988, 7:57 PM EDT for Craven County, Jones County, North Carolina. It was in force for 63 min. 2 reports 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 24, 1988, 7:57 PM EDT (23:57 UTC)
- Expired
- May 24, 1988, 9:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 63 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wilmington, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Craven County, NC, Jones 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 24, 8:00 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Craven, NC | |
| May 24, 8:30 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Jones, 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, 12.0 hours before the alert went out and 158 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
- 2405 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 536 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 53 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 71 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.8
- Supercell composite
- 4.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KILM 242357 TORILM NCC103-049-250100- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 757 PM EDT TUE MAY 24 1988 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA... JONES... CRAVEN AT 755 PM EDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND IN JONES COUNTY... AND A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS IN CRAVEN COUNTY. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...IF YOU ACRE 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. RK
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 24, 3:41 PM EDT, 4 hours 16 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, 2 hours 4 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, 6:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Bladen | 58 min |
| May 24, 7:19 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Duplin, Sampson | 61 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.