Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

November 17, 1988Currituck County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at Nov 17, 1988, 11:34 AM EST for Currituck County, North Carolina. It was in force for 41 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Nov 17, 1988, 11:34 AM EST (16:34 UTC)
Expired
Nov 17, 1988, 12:15 PM EST
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Currituck 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, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 128 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 1988-11-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 857 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 1988-11-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 135 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
857 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
775 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
4.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHAT 171636
TORHAT
NCC053-171715-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
1134 AM EST THU NOV 17 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CAPE HATTERAS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING AND
SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
          ...CURRITUCK
 
AND ADJOINING COASTAL WATERS BETWEEN VIRGINIA BEACH VA AND DUCK NC.
 
 
AT 1028 AM RADAR INDICATES A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER NORTHERN CURRITUCK
COUNTY. THE STORM WAS TRACKING NORTHEAST ABOUT 50 MILES AN HOUR.
THIS MOVEMENT WILL TAKE IT OVER THE CURRITUCK SOUND NEAR CURRITUCK BY
1150 AM.
 
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.
 
DEMAURICE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 17, 10:38 AM ESTTornado WarningMHXDare67 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.