Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1991
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Mar 29, 1991, 4:55 PM EST for Cumberland County, North Carolina. It was in force for 35 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 29, 1991, 4:55 PM EST (21:55 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 29, 1991, 5:30 PM EST
- In force
- 35 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Cumberland County, NC
The nearest sounding before it
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 150 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- NaN m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 82 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 472 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 852 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KRDU 292156 TORRDU NCC051-292230- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC 455 PM EST FRI MAR 29 1991 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA ...CUMBERLAND COUNTY A TORNADO HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CROSSING CENTRAL CUMBERLAND COUNTY AT 450 PM. THIS SEVERE STORM IS HEADING EAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. REPORTS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED VIA THE HOKE COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE. TORNADOES IN THE SOUTH ARE HARD TO SEE BECAUSE OF RAIN...LOW CLOUDS...AND TREES. TAKE COVER NOW...DO NOT TRY TO WAIT ON THE STOR_M AND DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN IT.
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 29, 2:36 PM EST, 2 hours 19 minutes before
NCZ003>005-014-292130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC 234 PM EST FRI MAR 29 1991 A BAND OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS HAS NOW TAKEN SHAPE OVER THE CENTRAL PIEDMONT AND IS MOVING EAST AT ABOUT 45 MILES AN HOUR. WINDS HAVE GUSTED TO 60 MPH AS THE LINE OF STORMS PASSED CHARLOTTE EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON. AT THE CURRENT RATE OF MOVEMENT...THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH THE NORTHEAST PIEDMONT AND SANDHILLS REGIONS OF THE STATE...INCLUDING THE TRIANGLE FAYETTEVILLE AND SOUTHERN PINES AREAS...BY 4 PM. THESE AREAS ARE UNDER A TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON. THIS IS A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SEVERE WEATHER SITUATION. STAY TUNED T*O LOCAL RADIO...TV...OR WEATHER RADIO FOR ADDITIONAL WATCHES OR WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Mar 29, 3:02 PM EST, 1 hour 53 minutes before
NCZ006-007-009-291930- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC 300 PM EST FRI MAR 29 1991 ...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 500 PM... ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... THE TORNADO WATCH INCLUDES ALL COUNTIES IN THE NORTHERN FOOTHILLS AND NORTHWEST PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA. THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH INCLUDES ALL COUNTIES IN THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS...NORTHERN FOOTHILLS AND NORTHWEST PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLONA. HEAVY RAINS CONTINUW ACROSS THE AREA...THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF PEA SIZE HAIL IN THE GRAHAM AREA. CONTINUOUS VIVID LIGHTNING IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF ROWAN COUNTY AROUND KANNAPOLIS. WITH WIDESPREAD RAINFALL COVERING MOST OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...MANY ROADS ACROSS THE REGION EITHER HAVE PONDING ON THE ROADWAY...SMALL STREAMS THAT RUN ALONGSIDE THE ROAD OVERFLOWING THERE BANKS...OR DRAINAGE DITCHES OVERFLOWING. PERSONS TRAVELING THIS AFTERNOON SHOULD USE EXTREME CAUTION AND COMMON SENSE. NEVER T\RY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM THATS OVER A ROADWAY...OR TRY TO DRIVE THROUGH A FLOODED LOW SPOT OR DIP IN THE ROAD. LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATIONS...FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND ANY POSSIBLE WARNINGS. RJD
Local storm report, Mar 29, 4:05 PM EST, 50 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
405 PM EST FRI MAR 29 1991
TIME EVENT
330 - 350 PM CHATHAM COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT REPORTS WIND DAMAGAE
EST NEAR SILER CITY. MOBILE HOME BLOWN OVER AND TREES
DAMAGED IN NORTHERN PART OF COUNTY
350 PM EST AMATEUR RADIO REPORTS ROOF BLOWN OFF HOUSE IN HIGH FALLS
IN NORTHERN MOORE COUNTY.
LGLLocal storm report, Mar 29, 4:15 PM EST, 40 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
414 PM EST FRI MAR 29 1991
TIME EVENT
405 PM EST TREES AND LARGE LIMBS DOWN ON COLON ROAD JUST NORTH
OF SANFORD IN LEE COUNTY REPORTED BY AMATEUR RADIO
OPERATORS.
RFGLocal storm report, Mar 29, 4:47 PM EST, 8 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
444 PM EST FRI MAR 29 1991
TIME EVENT
430 PM EST TORNADO REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC VIA THE SHERIFFS
OFFICE IN NORTHAMPTONG COUNTY TOUCHED DOWN NEAR
PLEASANT GROVE JUST OUTSIDE OF JACKSON.
422 PM EST TORNADO REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC VIA THE SHERIFFS
OFFICE IN NORTHAMPTON COUNTY TOUCHED DOWN NEAR
PENDLETON.
RFGSpecial weather statement, Mar 29, 4:50 PM EST, 5 minutes before
NCZ006-007-291930- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC 500 PM EST FRI MAR 29 1991 ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUED THIS EVENING... THE TORNADO WATCH THAT INCLUDED ALL COUNTIES IN THE NORTHERN FOOTHILLS AND NORTHWEST PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA HAS BENN CANCELLED. THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY THAT CROSSED THE AREA HAS MOVED EAST AND NO LONGER IS ANY THREAT. A FEW SHOWERS AND POSSIBBLE AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM ARE EXPECTED LTHROUGH THE EVENING. THIS IS THE LAST STATEMENT ON THIS STORM SITUATION. SAS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 29, 3:06 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Chatham, Lee, Moore | 54 min |
| Mar 29, 3:45 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Lee | 30 min |
| Mar 29, 3:58 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Wake | 32 min |
| Mar 29, 5:02 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Nash, Wilson | 43 min |
| Mar 29, 5:02 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Wayne | 43 min |
| Mar 29, 5:07 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Northampton | 8 min |
| Mar 29, 5:11 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Edgecombe | 34 min |
| Mar 29, 5:28 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Wayne | 32 min |
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.