Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

May 16, 1988Perquimans County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at May 16, 1988, 10:16 PM EDT for Perquimans County, North Carolina. It was in force for 34 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 1988, 10:16 PM EDT (02:16 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1988, 10:50 PM EDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Perquimans 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

Cape Hatteras, NC (KHAT), launched 00:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 130 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, Cape Hatteras, NC at 00:00Z on 1988-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 240 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, Cape Hatteras, NC at 00:00Z on 1988-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 61 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
240 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-167 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1128 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
61 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
96 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 KHAT 170216
TORHAT
NCC143-170250-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
1016 PM EDT MON MAY 16 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A 
TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1050 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
 
NORTH CAROLINA... PERQUIMANS                                             
                                                                         
AT 1015 PM EDT...A SEVERE WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTED 3 FUNNEL CLOUDS 
OVER THE CHOWAN PERQUIMANS COUNTY LINE...JUST WEST OF HERTFORD. 
THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. 
 
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 HEAD.
 
BT

The office that day

Everything else NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 5:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXMartin62 min
May 17, 6:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXHertford56 min
May 17, 6:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXGates65 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.