Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Raleigh, NC

June 9, 1988Harnett County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Jun 9, 1988, 2:53 PM EDT for Harnett County, North Carolina. It was in force for 52 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 9, 1988, 2:53 PM EDT (18:53 UTC)
Expired
Jun 9, 1988, 3:45 PM EDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Harnett 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 9, 3:06 PM EDTHail 0.75Harnett, NC
Jun 9, 3:35 PM EDTHail 2.75Harnett, 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, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 122 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1988-06-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 33 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1988-06-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 0 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
33 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-181 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1764 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
0 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
0 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
0 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 9, 2:27 PM EDT, 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
230  PM EDT THU JUN 9  1988

... SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA ...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR A PORTION OF
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE WATCH
INCLUDES THE ENTIRE COASTAL AREA...ALL OF THE SANDHILLS AREA
INCLUDING FAYETTEVILLE...THE SOUTHERN COASTAL PLAIN...THE CENTRAL
COASTAL PLAIN INCLUDING THE GOLDSBORO AREA...AND A SMALL PORTION OF THE
NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN BUT THAT PORTION EAST OF THE ROCKY MOUNT AREA.

AT 230 PM THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING ABOUT 40 MILES NORTH OF
FAYETTEVILLE MOVING VERY SLOWLY TO THE EAST.

LISTEN TO LOCAL RADIO..TV..OR WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR
POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

KK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 9, 2:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHMoore42 min
Jun 9, 3:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham43 min
Jun 9, 3:11 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHHarnett34 min
Jun 9, 3:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHLee47 min
Jun 9, 4:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHarnett52 min
Jun 9, 4:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWayne48 min
Jun 9, 4:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHMoore45 min
Jun 9, 4:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWayne35 min
Jun 9, 4:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHLenoir61 min
Jun 9, 5:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHoke, Scotland68 min
Jun 9, 5:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHCumberland49 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.