Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 16, 1994Lee County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Aug 16, 1994, 4:41 PM EDT for Lee County, North Carolina. It was in force for 34 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Aug 16, 1994, 4:41 PM EDT (20:41 UTC)
Expired: Aug 16, 1994, 5:15 PM EDT
In force: 34 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Lee County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 94 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: 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 162042
TORRDU
NCC105-162115-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
441 PM EDT TUE AUG 16 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...LEE COUNTY
 
AT 440 PM WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN
LEE COUNTY ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SANFORD. THE STORM PRODUCING THE
TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHWEST AT 25 MPH.
 
PEOPLE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD ACT NOW TO PROTECT THEIR
LIVES. GO TO THE LOWEST FLOOR...A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM OR CLOSET.
COVER YOUR HEAD. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. GET OUT OF MOBILE HOMES
AND VEHICLES AND INTO A STURDY BUILDING OR A DITCH.  REPORT DAMAGE
TO EMERGENCY OFFICIALS FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

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, 1 hour 5 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 16, 4:09 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Harnett	51 min

Nearby

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