Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Raleigh, NC

June 8, 1988Pitt County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Jun 8, 1988, 5:12 PM EDT for Pitt County, North Carolina. It was in force for 33 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 8, 1988, 5:12 PM EDT (21:12 UTC)
Expired
Jun 8, 1988, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Pitt 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 8, 5:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Pitt, 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

Cape Hatteras, NC (KHAT), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 174 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 1988-06-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 591 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 1988-06-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -25 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
591 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-200 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1446 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-32 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 KRDU 082114
TORRDU
NCC147-082145-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
512 PM EDT WED JUN 8 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
          ...SOUTHERN PITT
 
AT 504 PM A TORNADO WAS REPORTED JUST NORTH OF GRIFTON ALONG HIGHWAY
11 BY THE PITT COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT.
 
 
 
 
 
PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
ACTION TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES. GO TO A BASEMENT...THE CENTER OF
BUILDINGS...COVER YOUR HEAD. DO NOT GO NEAR DOORS OR WINDOWS. GET
OUT OF MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES. GET INTOK A STURDY BUILDING OR A
DITCH.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 8, 5:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGreene, Lenoir26 min
Jun 8, 6:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHMoore39 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.