Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1991
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Mar 3, 1991, 1:11 PM EST for Pitt County, North Carolina. It was in force for 34 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 3, 1991, 1:11 PM EST (18:11 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 3, 1991, 1:45 PM EST
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Pitt County, NC
The nearest sounding before it
Cape Hatteras, NC (KHAT), launched 12:00Z, 6.2 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 61 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -36 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 895 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 19 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 163 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 191 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KRDU 031813 TORRDU NCC147-031845- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC 111 PM EST SUN MAR 3 1991 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 145 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN EAST CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA ...PITT COUNTY AT 110 PM PITT COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED WIND DAMAGE TO BUILDINGS AND TREES IN FARMVILLE, GREENVILLE, AND WINTERVILLE. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTH NORTHEAST AT 50 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.
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, Mar 3, 11:18 AM EST, 1 hour 53 minutes before
NCZ006-007-009-031800- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC 1118 PM EST SUN MAR 3 1991 ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TODAY FOR THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AND NORTHERN FOOTHILLS OF NORTH CAROLINA... AT 1110 AM RADAR SHOWED A LARGE AREA OF RAIN OVER THE NORTHERN FOOTHILLS AND NORTHWEST PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA. THE HEAVIEST RAINS EXTENDED FROM THE CHARLOTTE AREA NORTHWARD ALONG I-85 INTO ALL OF THE TRIAD. THE RAIN IS MOVING NORTH AT ABOUT 40 MPH. THE MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINS IN THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT WILL CAUSE SOME PONDING OF WATER ALONG ROADWAYS AND POSSIBLY ALSO IN LOW AREAS WITH POOR DRAINAGE. DRIVERS IN THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT SHOULD SLOW DOWN AND USE CAUTION IN THE HEAVY AREAS OF RAIN TO PREVENT HYDROPLANING AND LOOSING CONTROL OF THEIR VEHICLE. THE CURRENT RAIN PATTERN WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS ACROSS THE NORTHERN FOOTHILLS AND NORTHWEST PIEDMONT. THIS MAY BE FOLLOWED BY A BREAK IN THE RAIN BUT MORE IS POISED SOUTHWEST OF THE AREA TO SPREAD BACK IN LATER TODAY. LATER STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED IF NEEDED. RBN
Special weather statement, Mar 3, 12:19 PM EST, 52 minutes before
NCZALL-031700- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC 1215PM EST SUN MAR 3 1991 ^ ...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA UNTIL 5 PM THIS EVENING... A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM CONTINUES TO LINGER OVER SOUTHWEST GEORIGA. A WARM FRONT EXTENDS FROM THE LOW NORHEAST TO THE NORTH CAROLINA COASTAL AREA. MOST OF THE SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED CLOSE TO THE WARM FRONT IN EASTERN NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. WIND DAMAGE TO TREES, POWER LINES AND A MOBILE HOME FROM A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS REPORTED NEAR TABOR CITY IN COLUMBUS COUNTY. IN THE LAST HOUR SATELLITE INFORMATION SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FORMING OVER CENTRAL GEORIGA. A TORNADAO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THIS AREA. DURING THE AFTERNOON THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY MOVE NORTH NORTHEAST INTO EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA CONTINUING THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER TO THE EASTERN THIRD OF THE STATE WELL INTO THE AFTERNOON. DMD
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.