Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Wilmington, NC

August 17, 1991Bladen County, Columbus County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Aug 17, 1991, 5:35 PM EDT for Bladen County, Columbus County, North Carolina. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 17, 1991, 5:35 PM EDT (21:35 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 1991, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bladen County, NC, Columbus County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 214 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1991-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1016 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1991-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 26 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
1016 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
637 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
54 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 KILM 172137
TORILM
NCC017-047-172230-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
535 PM EDT SAT AUG 17 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...SOUTHERN BLADEN COUNTY...COLUMBUS COUNTY
 
AT 528 PM THE PUBLIC SIGHTED A FUNNEL CLOUD ON THE EASTERN PART
OF THE CITY OF WHITEVILLE IN COLUMBUS COUNTY.
 
WEATHER RADAR WAS SHOWING SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS NEAR CHADBOURN
AND JUST NORTH OF WHITEVILLE IN COLUMBUS COUNTY.  THESE STORMS
AND ITS ASSOCIATED POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS MOVING TO THE NORTH
NORTHEAST AT 12 MPH.
 
 
 
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.

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1991Every tornado warning in 1991Tornadoes in 1991

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.