Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Raleigh, NC

November 28, 1988Franklin County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Nov 28, 1988, 1:45 AM EST for Franklin County, North Carolina. It was in force for 30 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Nov 28, 1988, 1:45 AM EST (06:45 UTC)
Expired
Nov 28, 1988, 2:15 AM EST
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Franklin 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 145 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 00:00Z on 1988-11-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 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 00:00Z on 1988-11-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 383 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-174 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
613 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
80 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
383 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
589 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KRDU 280648
TORRDU
NCC069-280715-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
145 AM EST MON NOV 28 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  215 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
          ...FRANKLIN
 
AT 1:30 AM EST SEVERAL REPORTS OF TORNADIC ACTIVITY HAD BEEN REPORTED
BY THE SHERIFF DEPARTMENT IN NORTHERN WAKE COUNTY AND FRANKLIN COUNTY.
 
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AROUND 45 MILES AN HOUR 
 
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 INTO A STURDY BUILDING OR A
DITCH.
 
TORNADOES WHICH OCCUR AFTER DARK ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS. GET TO A
PLACE OF SAFETY NOW. STAY AWAY FROM DOORS AND WINDOWS. GET OUT OF
MOBILE HOMES AND CARS. IF DAMAGE OCCURS NEAR YOU...DO NOT ATTEMPT TO
WALK AROUND IN THE DARK. THERE MAY BE DOWNED POWER LINES AND OTHER
HAZARDS THAT CANNOT BE SEEN.

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, Nov 28, 1:35 AM EST, 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
130 PM EST MON N0V 28 1988

A THUNDERSTORM PASSING THROUGH RALEIGH AROUND 1 AM THIS MORNING
HAS CAUSED DAMAGE TO HOUSES AND TREES. A TORNADO MAY HAVE BEEN
ASSOCIATED WITH THE THUNDERSTORM. RADAR SHOWS THE THUNDERSTORM HAS
WEAKENED SOME AND IS LOCATED NEAR WAKE FOREST. IT IS MOVING TOWARDS
THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. THIS WILL TAKE THE STORM INTO FRANKLIN
COUNTY. STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN WILL ACCOMPANY THE THUNDERSTORM.

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

JBP

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 28, 2:00 AM ESTTornado WarningRAHHalifax30 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.