Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

June 17, 1988Bertie County, Hertford County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at Jun 17, 1988, 6:45 PM EDT for Bertie County, Hertford County, North Carolina. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 17, 1988, 6:45 PM EDT (22:45 UTC)
Expired
Jun 17, 1988, 7:50 PM EDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bertie County, NC, Hertford 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 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 169 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 12:00Z on 1988-06-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1345 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 12:00Z on 1988-06-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -12 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
1345 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
646 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-9 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 172245
TORHAT
NCC015-091-172350-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
645 PM EDT FRI JUN 17 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A 
TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 750 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF
 
NORTH CAROLINA... BERTIE... HERTFORD                                     
                                                                         
A SKYWARN SPOTTER REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD JUST EAST OF AULANDER MOVING 
NORTH TOWARD HERTFORD COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORM SHOULD MOVE INTO HERTFORD 
COUNTY SOUTHWEST OF AHOSKIE BY 700 PM. 
 
                                                                         
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 YOUG.  GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.          
A BASEMENT IS BEST. COVER YOUR HEAD.                                     
 
JONES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 17, 5:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXChowan, Perquimans56 min
Jun 17, 7:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXChowan, Perquimans62 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.