Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 16, 1994Harnett County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Aug 16, 1994, 4:09 PM EDT for Harnett County, North Carolina. It was in force for 51 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 1994, 4:09 PM EDT (20:09 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1994, 5:00 PM EDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Harnett County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 122 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 1994-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 37 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 12:00Z on 1994-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 58 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
37 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
625 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
41 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 162010
TORRDU
NCC085-162100-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
409 PM EDT TUE AUG 16 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...WESTERN HARNETT COUNTY
 
AT 409 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN
SOUTHWESTERN HARNETT COUNTY 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LILLINGTON. THE STORM
WAS MOVING NORTHWEST NEAR 25 MPH.
 
TORNADOES FROM HURRICANES OR TROPICAL STORMS USUALLY FORM QUICKLY,
MOVE RAPIDLY, AND CAN OCCUR REPEATEDLY FROM THE SAME BAND OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS.  IF THIS WARNING AFFECTS YOUR AREA AND YOU HEAR
ROARING THUNDER...TAKE COVER UNTIL IT PASSES.  REPORT DAMAGE TO
EMERGENCY OFFICIALS FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
 
PERSONS IN LEE COUNTY SHOULD ALSO MONITOR THIS STORM.

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 16, 3:36 PM EDT, 33 minutes before
NCZ007-008-009-010-011-012-024-025-026-027-028-040-041-042-043-
044-075-076-077-078-079-085-086-088-091-162045-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
336 PM EDT TUE AUG 16 1994

AT 333 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN
HOKE...CUMBERLAND AND SOUTHEASTERN WAKE COUNTIES. THESE STORMS WERE
MOVING NORTHWEST NEAR 25 MPH.

PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD EXPECT STRONG GUSTY
WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. SEEK SHELTER IF
THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.

REMEMBER A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
UNTIL 10 PM. ALTHOUGH NO TORNADOES HAVE BEEN DETECTED WITH THESE
STORMS...THEY ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SMALL ISOLATED TORNADOES.

JC/PB

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 4:41 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHLee34 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes in 1994

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.