Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1992

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 12, 1992Wake County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Aug 12, 1992, 4:37 PM EDT for Wake County, North Carolina. It was in force for 68 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 12, 1992, 4:37 PM EDT (20:37 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 1992, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Wake County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 117 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 1992-08-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 367 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 1992-08-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 17 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
367 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-96 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1101 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KRDU 122040
TORRDU
NCC183-122145-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
437 PM EDT WED AUG 12 1992
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...WAKE COUNTY
 
AT 440 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A
TORNADOE IN SOUTHWESTERN WAKE COUNTY. THE FORECAST
OFFICE HAS RECEIVED SEVERAL REPORTS OF A FUNNEL
CLOUD NEAR CARY.
 
THE THUNDERSTORM CONTAINING THE FUNNEL CLOUD WAS
MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.
 
 
 
TORNADOES IN THE SOUTH ARE HARD TO SEE BECAUSE OF RAIN...LOW CLOUDS
...AND TREES. OFTEN YOUR ONLY WARNING WILL BE A LOUD ROARING SOUND
AND FLYING DEBRIS. BUT THAT MAY BE TOO LATE. TAKE COVER NOW!  WHEN
SAFE TO DO SO...REPORT DAMGAES TO EMERGENCY OFFICIALS PROMPTLY.

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 12, 2:04 PM EDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before
NCZALL-122000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
201 PM EDT WED AUG 12 1992

AT 2PM A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM CENTRAL MOORE INTO WESTERN HARNETT
COUNTY. OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE WIDELY SCATTERED OVER
CUMBERLAND AND HOKE COUNTIES.

SMALL HAIL WAS REPORTED IN SKYLINE NEAR SOUTHERN PINES. GUSTY WINDS
WERE ALSO REPORTED WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SLOWLY TOWARD THE EAST.
 ~
ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ACROSS MOST OF
CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA.

PERSONS SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING CONDITIONS.

LBC
Special weather statement, Aug 12, 3:36 PM EDT, 1 hour 1 minute before
NCZ006-122100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
335 PM EDT WED AUG 12 1992

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING IN THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES OF
THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA...

AT 325 PM EDT WEATHER SETVICE RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ASHEBORO IN RANDOLPH COUNTY AND ALONG THE
SOUTHERN BORDER OF ROWAN COUNTY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING
SLOWLY TO THE NORTHEAST.

THESE STORMS DEVELOPED QUICKLY AND HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE
STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY DOWNPOURS...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTENING.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF THESE RAPIDLY DEVELOPING STORMS..
SEEK SHELTER IN A SAFE PLACE. WHEN THE STORMS HAVE PASSED RELAY ANY
STORM REPORTS TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OR THE NEAREST NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE OFFICE.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL NEWS MEDIA FOR FURTHER
STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.

ELJ
Special weather statement, Aug 12, 3:43 PM EDT, 54 minutes before
NCZ006-122100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
335 PM EDT WED AUG 12 1992

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING IN THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES OF
THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA...

AT 325 PM EDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ASHEBORO IN RANDOLPH COUNTY AND ALONG THE
SOUTHERN BORDER OF ROWAN COUNTY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING
SLOWLY TO THE NORTHEAST.

THESE STORMS DEVELOPED QUICKLY AND HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE
STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY DOWNPOURS...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTENING.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF THESE RAPIDLY DEVELOPING STORMS..
SEEK SHELTER IN A SAFE PLACE. WHEN THE STORMS HAVE PASSED RELAY ANY
STORM REPORTS TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OR THE NEAREST NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE OFFICE.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL NEWS MEDIA FOR FURTHER
STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.

ELJ
Local storm report, Aug 12, 3:49 PM EDT, 48 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
348 PM EDT WED AUG 12 1992

TIME           EVENT
 345 PM EDT    IN WILSON COUNTY DIME SIZE HAIL...SEVERAL POWER LINES AND
               TREES DOWN.

JBP
Local storm report, Aug 12, 4:07 PM EDT, 30 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
406 PM EDT WED AUG 12 1992

TIME           EVENT
 3 54 PM EDT   AT FAYETTEVILLE AIRPORT...WIND GUST 58 KNOTS.

KK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 11, 10:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHPerson68 min
Aug 11, 11:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHOrange43 min
Aug 12, 3:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWilson42 min
Aug 12, 3:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHPitt68 min
Aug 12, 3:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHCumberland64 min
Aug 12, 4:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham67 min
Aug 12, 5:11 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHWake2 hr
Aug 12, 7:21 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHWake2 hr

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.