Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Blacksburg, VA

August 16, 1994Iredell County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at Aug 16, 1994, 7:04 PM EDT for Iredell County, North Carolina. It was in force for 26 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 1994, 7:04 PM EDT (23:04 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1994, 7:30 PM EDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Iredell County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 93 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 KGSO 162306
TORGSO
NCC097-162330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
704 PM EDT TUE AUG 16 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENSBORO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...NORTH CENTRAL IREDELL COUNTY
 
AT 700 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN NORTHERN IREDELL
COUNTY TO THE NORTH OF STATESVILLE. COUNTY ATUTHORITIES ALSO REPORTED
FUNNEL CLOUDS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STORM.
 
THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE NORTH AT 20 MPH.
 
TORNADOES IN TROPICAL WEATHER SYSTEMS USUALLY DEVELOP QUICKLY...
MOVE RAPIDLY...AND CAN OCCUR REPEATEDLY FROM THE SAME BAND OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS. IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNED AREA AND ARE CLOSE TO A
THUNDERSTORM...TAKE COVER UNTIL IT PASSES.
 
GTR

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, 2:33 PM EDT, 4 hours 31 minutes before
VAC009-019-031-515-590-680-143-162130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LYNCHBURG VA
233 PM EDT TUE AUG 16 1994

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 AM WED AUG 17...

AT 225 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWS A WIDESPREAD AREA OF
LIGHT RAIN AND A FEW SHOWERS. MOST OF THE RAIN IS IN NORTHERN
BEDFORD AND NEARLY ALL OF AMHERST COUNTIES. A COUPLE OF SHOWERS
IN NORTHERN CAMPBELL COUNTY NEAR RUSTBURG BEING THE HEAVIEST
RAINFALL.

RAINFALL AMOUNTS FOR THE PAST SIX HOURS AT LYNCHBURG HAVE BEEN
JUST OVER ONE HALF AN INCH (.60).

RAINFALL AMOUNTS FOR THE AREA ARE NOT ENOUGH YET TO WORRY ABOUT
FLOODING YET THIS COULD CHANGE AS THE REMAINS OF TROPICAL STORM
BERYL MOVE THROUGH THE MID ATLANTIC STATES OVERNIGHT.

PEOPLE IN LOW LYING AREAS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR WEATHER
CONDITIONS AND LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER UPDATES.

DEVAULT

NNNN
Special weather statement, Aug 16, 2:33 PM EDT, 4 hours 31 minutes before
VAC009-019-031-515-590-680-143-162130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LYNCHBURG VA
233 PM EDT TUE AUG 16 1994

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 AM WED AUG 17...

AT 225 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWS A WIDESPREAD AREA OF
LIGHT RAIN AND A FEW SHOWERS. MOST OF THE RAIN IS IN NORTHERN
BEDFORD AND NEARLY ALL OF AMHERST COUNTIES. A COUPLE OF SHOWERS
IN NORTHERN CAMPBELL COUNTY NEAR RUSTBURG BEING THE HEAVIEST
RAINFALL.

RAINFALL AMOUNTS FOR THE PAST SIX HOURS AT LYNCHBURG HAVE BEEN
JUST OVER ONE HALF AN INCH (.60).

RAINFALL AMOUNTS FOR THE AREA ARE NOT ENOUGH YET TO WORRY ABOUT
FLOODING YET THIS COULD CHANGE AS THE REMAINS OF TROPICAL STORM
BERYL MOVE THROUGH THE MID ATLANTIC STATES OVERNIGHT.

PEOPLE IN LOW LYING AREAS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR WEATHER
CONDITIONS AND LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER UPDATES.

DEVAULT

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 5:02 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKDavidson28 min
Aug 16, 6:39 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKDavidson, Davie36 min
Aug 16, 7:21 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKDavie, Forsyth, Yadkin39 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.