Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1992

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Wilmington, NC

August 15, 1992Brunswick County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 15, 1992, 4:27 PM EDT for Brunswick County, North Carolina. It was in force for 48 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Aug 15, 1992, 4:27 PM EDT (20:27 UTC)
Expired: Aug 15, 1992, 5:15 PM EDT
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Wilmington, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Brunswick County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 208 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 620 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 734 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 71 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 92 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KILM 152028
SVRILM
NCC019-152115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
427 PM EDT SAT AUG 15 1992
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...BRUNSWICK COUNTY
 
  AND FOR THE NORTH CAROLINA COASTAL WATERS FROM
 
   ...LITTLE RIVER INLET  TO  CAPE FEAR
 
AT 425 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER THE BEACHES OF
BRUNSWICK COUNTY. WIND GUSTS NEAR 56 MILES AN HOUR HAVE BEEN RECEIVED
FROM HOLDEN BEACH. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTH-NORTHEAST
AROUND 40 MILES AN HOUR.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WINDS CAN REACH SPEEDS OF 60 MPH TO OVER 100
MPH. THESE WINDS BLOW DOWN TREES...POWER LINES...AND SEVERELY
DAMAGE MOBILE HOMES...SOMETIMES BUILDINGS. VERY LARGE HAIL CAN
INJURE ANYONE CAUGHT OUTSIDE.
 
PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD BE ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS. FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN CAN OCCUR
WITH ANY THUNDERSTORM.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 15, 10:43 AM EDT, 5 hours 44 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
 1035 AM EDT SAT AUG 15 1992

 TIME            EVENT
 0810 AM EDT          BELLES ISLAND NC CURRITUCK COUNTY TORNADO
                      OVER TURNED TWO MOBILE HOMES. MINOR
                      STRUCTUAL DAMAGE TO A FOOD STORE. TWO HOUSES
                      DESTROYED AND BLOWN INTO SOUND. TRACTOR TURNED
                      OVER AND MINOR DAMAGE TO SEVERAL HOMES

0820                  KNOTTS ISLAND NC CURRITUCK COUNTY. TREES BLOWN
                      DOWN ON FOUR AUTOMOBILES. DAMAGE TO ROOF OF
                      CHURCH AND HOUSE. APRT TORNADO.

Special weather statement, Aug 15, 11:06 AM EDT, 5 hours 21 minutes before

NCZ001-002-017-150335-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
1155 AM EDT SAT AUG 15 1992

...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING OVER OUTER BANKS....

WEATHER SEARCH RADARS AND SURFACE REPORTS INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS MOVING
ACROSS THE OUTER BANKS BETWEEN OCRACOKE ISLAND AND KITTY HAWK AND THE
ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS AND SOUNDS. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF
PRODUCING HEAVY DOWNPOURS...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL. PEOPLE ALONG THE OUTER BANKS AND MARINERS
SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THESE STORMS AND SEEK SAFE SHELTER IF NECESSARY.

ELSEWHERE...SCATTERED THUMDERSTORMS...SHOWERS AND RAIN COVERED THE
COASTAL PLAINS AND COASTAL AREA OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND TIDEWATER
AREA OF SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA. ALL PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT
25 MILES AN HOUR.

STAY TUNED FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS IF CONDITIONS
WARRANT.

FT

Special weather statement, Aug 15, 12:38 PM EDT, 3 hours 49 minutes before

NCZ016-151800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
1235 PM EDT SAT AUG 15 1992

AT 1225 PM...RADAR SHOWED A CLUSTER OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN THE
COASTAL WATERS OF ONSLOW COUNTY.  THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST
AROUND 30 MILES AN HOUR WHICH WILL LIKELY BRING THEM ACROSS ONSLOW AND
CARTERET COUNTIES IN THE NEXT HOUR.  PERSONS IN ONSLOW AND CARTERET
COUNTIES SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS...FREQUENT DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.  MARINERS IN THE COASTAL WATERS SHOULD
SEEK SAFE HARBOR UNTIL THE STORMS HAVE PASSED.  ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM WITH
VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS ABOUT 30 MILES SOUTH OF CAPE FEAR.

ELSEWHERE...SHOWERS AND PATCHES OF LIGHT RAIN WERE SCATTERED FROM THE
PAMLICO SOUTH WEST TO THE PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA.  ANOTHER PATCH
OF LIGHT RAIN WAS OVER THE NORTH MIDLANDS OF SOUTH CAROLINA AROUND
FLORENCE.  THIS PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AROUND 30 MILES AN
HOUR.
JH

Special weather statement, Aug 15, 12:45 PM EDT, 3 hours 42 minutes before

NCZ016-151800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
1235 PM EDT SAT AUG 15 1992

AT 1225 PM...RADAR SHOWED A CLUSTER OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN THE
COASTAL WATERS OF ONSLOW COUNTY.  THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST
AROUND 30 MILES AN HOUR WHICH WILL LIKELY BRING THEM ACROSS ONSLOW AND
CARTERET COUNTIES IN THE NEXT HOUR.  PERSONS IN ONSLOW AND CARTERET
COUNTIES SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS...FREQUENT DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.  MARINERS IN THE COASTAL WATERS SHOULD
SEEK SAFE HARBOR UNTIL THE STORMS HAVE PASSED.  ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM WITH
VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS ABOUT 30 MILES SOUTH OF CAPE FEAR.

ELSEWHERE...SHOWERS AND PATCHES OF LIGHT RAIN WERE SCATTERED FROM THE
PAMLICO SOUND WEST TO THE PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA.  ANOTHER PATCH
OF LIGHT RAIN WAS OVER THE NORTH MIDLANDS OF SOUTH CAROLINA AROUND
FLORENCE.  THIS PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AROUND 30 MILES AN
HOUR.
...CORRECTED FOR SPELLING...

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1992 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1992

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.