Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Wilmington, NC

June 9, 1988Sampson County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Jun 9, 1988, 3:28 PM EDT for Sampson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 42 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: Jun 9, 1988, 3:28 PM EDT (19:28 UTC)
Expired: Jun 9, 1988, 4:10 PM EDT
In force: 42 min
Issued by: NWS Wilmington, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Sampson 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
Jun 9, 3:58 PM EDT	Hail 1.75	Sampson, 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 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 184 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 33 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -181 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1764 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 0 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 0 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 0 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KILM 091928
TORILM
NCC163-092010-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
328 PM EDT THU JUN 9 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 410 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
 
NORTH CAROLINA... EXTREME NORTHERN SAMPSON
 
AT 325 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 17 MILES NORTHWEST OF
SPIVEYS CORNER IN EXTREME NORTHERN SAMPSON COUNTY. THE ASSOCIATED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST SOUTHEAST 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.L
A BASEMENT IS BEST. COVER YOUR HEAD.
 
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, Jun 9, 2:35 PM EDT, 53 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
 230 PM EDT THU JUN 9 1988

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM TONIGHT
    FOR MOST OF NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA...

...A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAINSHOWERS WAS MOVING TOWARDS
   MANTEO...

AT 225 PM RADAR SHOWED A NEWLY DEVELOPED THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY
RAINSHOWERS OVER MAINLAND DARE COUNTY JUST SOUTH OF MANNS HARBOR. THIS
STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL CROSS THE ROANOKE
SOUND AND THE OUTER BANKS AT MANTEO AT AROUND 315 PM. VERY HEAVY
DOWNPOURS... DANGEROUS LIGHTNING... STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLE
HAIL WILL ACCOMPANY THIS STORM.

RESIDENTS IN THE MANTEO AREA AS WELL AS BOATERS ON THE ROANOKE SOUND
SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THIS STORMS PASSAGE.
. LISTEN TO LOCAL TELEVISION... RADIO OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHUR
INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

MLM

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 9, 4:22 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Duplin	58 min
Jun 9, 5:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Sampson	63 min
Jun 9, 6:08 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Craven	42 min
Jun 9, 6:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Duplin	59 min
Jun 9, 6:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Beaufort, Pamlico	63 min
Jun 9, 7:03 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Jones	57 min
Jun 9, 7:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Onslow	61 min
Jun 9, 7:42 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Onslow	48 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1988 Every tornado warning in 1988 Tornadoes 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.