Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1992

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Raleigh, NC

March 19, 1992Harnett County, Lee County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Mar 19, 1992, 4:17 PM EST for Harnett County, Lee County, North Carolina. It was in force for 58 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 19, 1992, 4:17 PM EST (21:17 UTC)
Expired
Mar 19, 1992, 5:15 PM EST
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Harnett County, NC, Lee County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 108 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 1992-03-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1992-03-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 124 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
597 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
124 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
123 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 KRDU 192119
TORRDU
NCC105-085-192215-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
417 PM EST THU MAR 19 1992
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...LEE COUNTY
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...HARNETT COUNTY
 
A TORNADO WAS REPORTED AT 412 PM IN THE CARBONTON ROAD AREA OF WESTERN
LEE COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 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 NO/T GO NEAR DOORS OR WINDOWS. GET
OUT OF MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES. GET INTO A STURDY BUILDING OR A
DITCH.
 
GAF

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 19, 2:26 PM EST, 1 hour 51 minutes before
NCZ003>005-014-192015-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
217 PM EDT THU MAR 19 1992

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
UNTIL 7 PM...
...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN PERSON COUNTY AND PARTS
OF THE SANDHILLS...

AT 218 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
DEVELOPING OVER THE SANDHILLS WITH THE STRONGEST STORM LOCATED ABOUT
5 MILES SOUTH OF FAYETTEVILLE. OTHER SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE
MOVING INTO PERSON COUNTY IN THE NORTHEAST PIEDMONT.

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH THESE STORMS...HOWEVER THE
ATMOSPHERE IS VERY UNSTABLE AND STORMS SHOULD CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND
INTENSIFY THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SCATTERED STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING OVER THE WESTERN PIEDMONT AND THESE HAVE
PRODUCED HAIL EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON.

ALL PERSONS IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD REMAIN ON THE
LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN TO LATER
STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

GAF
Special weather statement, Mar 19, 3:02 PM EST, 1 hour 15 minutes before
NCZ003>005-014-192015-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
300 PM EDT THU MAR 19 1992

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
UNTIL 7 PM...
...STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO SOUTHERN JOHNSTON COUNTY...

AT 3 PM WEATHER RADAR DETECTED A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING STRONG THUNDERSTORM
OVER DUNN IN SOUTHEAST HARNETT COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST
AT 20 TO 25 MPH INTO SOUTHERN JOHNSTON COUNTY.

RADAR SHOWED THAT SOME SMALL HAIL MAY ACCOMAPNY THIS STORM.

OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER HOKE COUNTY TO THE
SOUTHEAST OF RAEFORD AND IN NORTHERN PERSON COUNTY ABOUT 8 MILES
NORTH OF ROXBORO.

STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON. ALL PERSONS
IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD REMAIN ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN TO THE WEATHER RADIO OR
LOCAL TELEVISION FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

GAF
Special weather statement, Mar 19, 3:20 PM EST, 57 minutes before
NCZ003>005-192100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
318 PM EDT THU MAR 19 1992

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN PERSON COUNTY...

AT 315 PM HAM RADIO OPERATORS REPORTED ONE QUARTER INCH HAIL IN
SOUTHERN PERSON COUNTY NEAR TIMBERLAKE. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE
EAST AT 40 MPH. OTHER VERY INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER
NORTHERN PERSON COUNTY TO THE NORTH OF ROXBORO.

ALL PERSONS SHOULD REMAIN ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER
CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

GAF
Local storm report, Mar 19, 4:13 PM EST, 4 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
411 PM EST THU MAR 19 1992

TIME           EVENT
 400 PM        LARGE HAIL...GOLFBALL SIZE CENTRAL MOORE COUNTY, NC.

KK

The office that day

Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 19, 3:41 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHMoore64 min
Mar 19, 3:52 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHarnett, Lee68 min
Mar 19, 3:52 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHoke68 min
Mar 19, 4:02 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHFranklin58 min
Mar 19, 4:05 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHLenoir, Wayne55 min
Mar 19, 4:08 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham67 min
Mar 19, 4:30 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHNash60 min
Mar 19, 4:40 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston65 min
Mar 19, 4:48 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDurham, Orange, Person57 min
Mar 19, 5:14 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHEdgecombe31 min
Mar 19, 5:33 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHPitt42 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1992Every tornado warning in 1992Tornadoes 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.