Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1993

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Blacksburg, VA

March 31, 1993Alamance County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at Mar 31, 1993, 10:55 PM EST for Alamance County, North Carolina. It was in force for 40 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 31, 1993, 10:55 PM EST (03:55 UTC)
Expired
Mar 31, 1993, 11:35 PM EST
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Alamance County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 3.9 hours before the alert went out and 45 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 00:00Z on 1993-04-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 195 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1993-04-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 232 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
195 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
710 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
73 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
232 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
316 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGSO 010356
TORGSO
NCC001-010445-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
1055 PM EST WED MAR 31 1993
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENSBORO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...ALAMANCE COUNTY
 
AT 1055 PM RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST SOUTHWEST OF
BURLINGTON MOVING NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 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 NOT GO NEAR DOORS OR WINDOWS. GET
OUT OF MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES. GET INTO A STURDY BUILDING OR A
DITCH.
 
RBN

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 31, 6:08 PM EST, 4 hours 47 minutes before
VAZ008-009-013-014-015-016-010600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VIRGINIA
600 PM EST WED MAR 31 1993

...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT TONIGHT FOR THE SOUTHERN SHENANDOAH VALLEY..
   AND WESTCENTRAL HIGHLANDS...
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON THURSDAY FOR THE SOUTHERN
   HIGHLANDS AND PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHWESTERN MOUNTAINS.

LOW PRESSURE MOVING THROUGH THE OHIO VALLEY WILL SPREAD SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WATCH AREA TONIGHT AND CONTINUING INTO THURSDAY.
WITH THE GROUND ALREADY SATURATED AND THE STREAMS AND CREEKS ABOVE
NORMAL A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF RAINFALL WILL LIKELY PRODUCE FLOODING.

PEOPLE ALONG SMALL STREAMS CREEKS AND LOW LYING AREAS SHOULD MONITOR
WATER LEVELS AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IF FLOODING
IS OBSERVED.
CG
Special weather statement, Mar 31, 9:10 PM EST, 1 hour 45 minutes before
VAZ008-009-010400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VIRGINIA
910 PM EST WED MAR 31 1993

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING THROUGH HENRY COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST
   PIEDMONT...

AT 9 PM EST RADAR SHOWED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR MARTINSVILLE
IN HENRY COUNTY VIRGINIA MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.
THIS STORM WILL BE MOVING INTO SOUTHEAST FRANKLIN COUNTY WITHIN
THE HOUR.
CG
Special weather statement, Mar 31, 9:18 PM EST, 1 hour 37 minutes before
VAZ008-009-010400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VIRGINIA
910 PM EST WED MAR 31 1993

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING THROUGH HENRY COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST
   PIEDMONT...

AT 9 PM EST RADAR SHOWED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR MARTINSVILLE
IN HENRY COUNTY VIRGINIA MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.
THIS STORM WILL BE MOVING INTO SOUTHEAST FRANKLIN COUNTY WITHIN
THE HOUR.
CG

The office that day

Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 31, 8:42 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKForsyth, Stokes, Yadkin63 min
Apr 1, 3:02 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKRowan28 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1993Every tornado warning in 1993Tornadoes in 1993

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.