Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Raleigh, NC

July 3, 1995Moore County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Jul 3, 1995, 2:14 PM EDT for Moore County, North Carolina. It was in force for 46 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 3, 1995, 2:14 PM EDT (18:14 UTC)
Expired
Jul 3, 1995, 3:00 PM EDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Moore County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:17 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 6.2 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1995-07-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 351 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 1995-07-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 36 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
351 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
739 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
128 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KRDU 031816
TORRDU
NCC125-031900-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
214 PM EDT MON JUL 3 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...MOORE COUNTY
 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR CONITNUES TO INDICATE A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM IN CENTRAL MOORE COUNTY AND A POSSIBLE TORNADO ASSOCIATED
WITH THIS STORM.
 
THE STORM IS LOCATED 5 MILES WEST OF CARTHAGE AND IS MOVING TO THE
EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.
 
REPORTS OF BASEBALL SIZE HAIL FROM THIS STORM HAVE BEEN REPORTED.
FLOODING OF SOME ROADS IN THE VICINITY OF THIS STORM HAS ALSO BEEN
REPORTED.
 
 
PEOPLE SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND.
FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN CAN POSE A DANGER WITH ANY
THUNDERSTORM.  SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY AND REPORT DAMAGE TO
EMERGENCY OFFICIALS FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
 
THIS SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORM MAY CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS
AND URBAN DRAINAGES IN ADDITION TO WIND AND HAIL.  MOTORISTS MAY
ENCOUNTER PONDING OF WATER ON HIGHWAYS AND FLOODED UNDERPASSES.
AVOID DRIVING ACROSS WATER-COVERED ROADS. WATER TWO FEET DEEP CAN
LIFT MOST CARS.  REPORT FLOODING OR DAMAGE TO EMERGENCY OFFICIALS.

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

Local storm report, Jul 3, 1:33 PM EDT, 41 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
133 PM EDT MON JUL 03 1995

TIME           EVENT
133 PM EDT     MOORE COUNTY...2 WEST OF ROBBINS...SPOTTER REPORTS QUARTER
               SIZE HAIL...POSSIBLE TORNADO...LOAD ROARING WIND NOISE...
               BUT NO FUNNEL SEEN BECAUSE OF HEAVY RAIN.

JBP
Local storm report, Jul 3, 1:37 PM EDT, 37 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
133 PM EDT MON JUL 03 1995

TIME           EVENT
133 PM EDT     MOORE COUNTY...2 WEST OF ROBBINS...SPOTTER REPORTS QUARTER
               SIZE HAIL.N..POSSIBLE TORNADO...LOAD ROARING WIND NOISE...
               BUT NO FUNNEL SEEN BECAUSE OF HEAVY RAIN.

JBP
Local storm report, Jul 3, 1:43 PM EDT, 31 minutes before
STORM REPORT CORRECTED   ...TYPO...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
143 PM EDT MON JUL 03 1995

TIME           EVENT
133 PM EDT     MOORE COUNTY...2 WEST OF ROBBINS...SPOTTER REPORTS QUARTER
               SIZE HAIL...POSSIBLE TORNADO...LOUD ROARING WIND NOISE...
               BUT NO FUNNEL SEEN BECAUSE OF HEAVY RAIN.

JBP
Local storm report, Jul 3, 1:44 PM EDT, 30 minutes before
STORM REPORT CORRECTED   ...TYPO...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
143 PM EDT MON JUL 03 1995

TIME           EVENT
133 PM EDT     MOORE COUNTY...2 WEST OF ROBBINS...SPOTTER REPORTS QUARTERf
               SIZE HAIL...POSSIBLE TORNADO...LOUD ROARING WIND NOISE...
               BUT NO FUNNEL SEEN BECAUSE OF HEAVY RAIN.

JBP
Local storm report, Jul 3, 2:00 PM EDT, 14 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
200 PM EDT MON JUL 03 1995

TIME           EVENT
155 PM EDT     MOORE COUNTY...ROBBINS AREA...BASEBALL SIZE HAIL.

JBP
Local storm report, Jul 3, 2:01 PM EDT, 13 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
200 PM EDT MON JUL 03 1995

TIME           EVENT
155 PM EDT     MOORE COUNTY...ROBBINS AREA...BASEBALL SIZE HAIL.

JBP

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 3, 11:31 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHRandolph44 min
Jul 3, 12:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham, Randolph49 min
Jul 3, 1:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHMoore, Randolph40 min
Jul 3, 1:29 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHMoore46 min
Jul 3, 3:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHoke, Moore43 min
Jul 3, 3:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHarnett43 min
Jul 3, 3:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHCumberland49 min
Jul 3, 4:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDavidson42 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes in 1995

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.