Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Jun 2, 1988, 6:11 PM EDT for Cumberland County, North Carolina. It was in force for 49 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
- Jun 2, 1988, 6:11 PM EDT (22:11 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 2, 1988, 7:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 49 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Cumberland 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 2, 6:20 PM EDT | Hail 1.75 | Cumberland, NC | |
| Jun 2, 6:40 PM EDT | Hail 1.5 | Cumberland, 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, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 150 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
- 6 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -212 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2544 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 75 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 29 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KRDU 022213
TORRDU
NCC051-022300-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
611 PM EDT THU JUN 2 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
...CUMBERLAND
AT 605PM THERE WERE REPORTS OF A TORNADO TOUCHDNOWN IN NORTHERN
CUMBERLAND COUNTY. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO
JUST NORTHEAST OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE MOVING SOUTHEAST
AT 20 MPH.
TAKE COVER NOW.
TORNADOES IN THE SOUTH ARE HARD TO SEE BECAUSE OF RAIN...LOW
CLOUDS...AND TREES. TAKE COVER NOW...DO NOT TRY TO WAIT ON THE
STORM AND DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN IT.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 2, 3:55 PM EDT, 2 hours 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
350 PM EDT THU JUNE 2 1988
...THUNDERSTORMS IN WESTERN CHATHAM COUNTY...
AT 345PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED THAT STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED IN WESTERN CHATHAM COUNTY. THE
STRONGEST STORM WAS LOCATED IN SOUTHWEST CHATHAM COUNTY ABOUT
10 MILES WEST OF GOLDSTON. THIS STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST ABOUT
25 MPH. THIS MOVEMENT WILL BRING IT INTO NORTHERN MOORE COUNTY BY
430PM.
ANOTHER STRONG STORM WAS LOCATED OVER NORTHEAST RANDOLPH COUNTY JUST
TO THE EAST OF RAMSEUR. THIS STORM WAS ALSO MOVING SOUTHEAST AND WILL
MOVE INTO WESTERN CHATHAM COUNTY BY 430PM.
THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...GUSTY WINDS
AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL. LISTEN TO WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO
AND TELEVISION FOR UPDATES AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
LGLocal storm report, Jun 2, 5:35 PM EDT, 36 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
535 PM EDT THU JUN 02 1988
TIME EVENT
525PM EDT HARNETT COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTS GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL
COVERING THE GROUND NEAR OLIVIA IN WESTERN HARNETT
COUNTY.
MESLocal storm report, Jun 2, 5:47 PM EDT, 24 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
548 PM EDT THU JUN 02 1988
TIME EVENT
545PM EDT SKYWARN SPOTTER IN SPRING LAKE IN NORTHERN CUMBERLAND
COUNTY REPORTS 1 INCH HAIL.
MESThe office that day
Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2, 4:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Lee, Moore | 66 min |
| Jun 2, 5:21 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Cumberland, Harnett | 69 min |
| Jun 2, 7:21 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Wake | 54 min |
| Jun 2, 7:47 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Chatham | 58 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.