Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Wilmington, NC

August 10, 1991Robeson County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Aug 10, 1991, 6:07 PM EDT for Robeson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 68 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 10, 1991, 6:07 PM EDT (22:07 UTC)
Expired
Aug 10, 1991, 7:15 PM EDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Robeson County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 176 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 1991-08-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 44 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 1991-08-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -44 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
44 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-73 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1056 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
15 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 102208 RRA
TORILM
NCC155-102315-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
607 PM EDT SAT AUG 10 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...ROBESON COUNTY
 
AT 604 PM A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED BY THE SHERIFF DEPARTMENT IN
ROBESON COUNTY. THE FUNNEL CLOUD WAS SIGHTED ALONG I-95 NEAR ROLAND.
RADAR SHOWS THE STORMS IN THAT AREA MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15 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.t DO NOT GO NEAR DOORS OR WINDOWS.
GET INTO A STURDY BUILDING OR A DITCH

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, Aug 10, 3:44 PM EDT, 2 hours 23 minutes before
NCZ001-002-017-102030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
330 PM EDT SAT AUG 10 1991

AT 325 PM EDT...A BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO DEVELOP
OVER EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA. THE THUNDERSTORMS REACHED FROM NEAR
BELHAVEN...AND FOLLOWED THE WEST BANK OF THE PAMLICO SOUND TO STUMPY
POINT...ACROSS TO THE OUTER BANKS AT THE VILLIAGE OF RODANTHE...TO 100
MILES OFFSHORE.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE PRODUCING FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES
...TORRENTIAL RAINFALL...GUSTY WINDS...AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL.

MARINERS ON THE PAMLICO SOUND BETWEEN ENGLEHARD TO RODANTHE SHOULD
HEAD SOUTH FOR SAFE HARBOR...OR BE PREPARED FOR ROUGH WEATHER. OFFSHORE
BOATERS PLANNING TO RETURN VIA OREGON INLET SHOULD DELAY UNTIL THESE
THUNDERSTORMS CLEAR THE AREA.

AS THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE STILL DEVELOPING...DETERMINING AN EXACT
MOVEMENT HAS NOT BEEN POSSIBLE. IT APPEARS THE INDIVIDUAL THUNDERSTORMS
WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR...AS THE ENTIRE SYSTEM WAS
MOVING SOUTH AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

IF THIS MOVEMENT IS CORRECT...THE SOUTH PORTION OF THE PAMLICO SOUND
AND THE SOUTH PORTION OF HATTERAS ISLAND CAN EXPECT THESE STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS 8TO REACH THE AREA BY 430 PM EDT.

VISITORS ON THE EXPOSED BEACHES SHOULD BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER
AS THESE STORMS APPROACH. INSIDE A VEHICLE WILL PROVIDE PROTECTION
FROM LIGHTNING.
Special weather statement, Aug 10, 4:35 PM EDT, 1 hour 32 minutes before
NCZ001-002-017-102130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
430 PM EDT SAT AUG 10 1991

AT 425 PM EDT...A BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS LAY ALONG THE WEST BANK
OF THE PAMLICO SOUND FROM BELHAVEN TO SWANQUARTER...TO STUMPY POINT...
ACROSS THE SOUND TO RODANTHE...TO 100 MILES OFFSHORE. THE STRONGEST
CONCENTRATION OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WAS IN THE PAMLICO SOUND BETWEEN
SWANQUARTER AND STUMPY POINT.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE PRODUCING FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES
...TORRENTIAL RAINFALL...GUSTY WINDS...AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL.

MARINERS ON THE PAMLICO SOUND BETWEEN ENGLEHARD TO RODANTHE SHOULD
HEAD SOUTH FOR SAFE HARBOR...OR BE PREPARED FOR ROUGH WEATHER.

THE INDIVIDUAL THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 10 MILES
AN HOUR...AS THE ENTIRE SYSTEM MOVED SOUTH SOUTHEAST AT 10 MILES AN
HOUR.

VISITORS ON THE EXPOSED BEACHES SHOULD BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER
AS THESE STORMS APPROpACH. INSIDE A VEHICLE WILL PROVIDE PROTECTION
FROM LIGHTNING.

AT THE CURRENT MOVEMENT...THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL REACH THE SOUTH
PORTION OF HATTERAS ISLAND BY 600 PM EDT...AND THE NORTH PORTION OF
OCRACOKE ISLAND BY 630.

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.