Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Raleigh, NC

October 5, 1995Wake County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Oct 5, 1995, 5:49 PM EDT for Wake County, North Carolina. It was in force for 26 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 5, 1995, 5:49 PM EDT (21:49 UTC)
Expired
Oct 5, 1995, 6:15 PM EDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Wake County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 20 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:51 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, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 117 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 1995-10-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 896 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 1995-10-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 375 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
896 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
528 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
375 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
381 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.0
Supercell composite
11.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KRDU 052150
TORRDU
NCC183-052215-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
549 PM EDT THU OCT 5 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...WAKE COUNTY
 
AT 545 PM WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW A TORNADO OVER
WAKE COUNTY A FEW MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE CITY OF RALEIGH. AN UNCONFIRMED
TORNADO SIGHTING WAS REPORTED NEAR THE SHEARON HARRIS NUCLEAR POWER
PLANT AT 540 PM. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST NEAR 35 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

Local storm report, Oct 5, 12:09 PM EDT, 5 hours 40 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
1209 PM EDT THU OCT 05 1995

TIME       .....CITY LOCATION.....   STATE    EVENT/REMARKS

1000 AM    JOHNSTON COUNTY            NC      PAGE...OLIVER AND
                                              SWIFT ROADS WERE
                                              CLOSED APPRX 10 AM
                                              DUE TO FLOODING...
                                              REMAIN CLOSED AT THE
                                              CURRENT TIME.
Local storm report, Oct 5, 12:10 PM EDT, 5 hours 39 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
1209 PM EDT THU OCT 05 1995

TIME       .....CITY LOCATION.....   STATE    EVENT/REMARKS

1000 AM    JOHNSTON COUNTY            NC      PAGE...OLIVER AND
                                              SWIFT ROADS WERE
                                              CLOSED APPRX 10 AM
                                              DUE TO FLOODING...
                                              REMAIN CLOSED AT THE
                                              CURRENT TIME.
Local storm report, Oct 5, 12:12 PM EDT, 5 hours 37 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
1212 PM EDT THU OCT 05 1995

TIME       .....CITY LOCATION.....   STATE    EVENT/REMARKS

1000 AM    JOHNSTON COUNTY            NC      TREES DOWN ON STATE
                                              ROAD 1544 APPRX 10 AM

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 5, 6:05 AM EDTTornado WarningRAHAnson25 min
Oct 5, 8:37 AM EDTTornado WarningRAHChatham38 min
Oct 5, 8:51 AM EDTTornado WarningRAHOrange39 min
Oct 5, 9:51 AM EDTTornado WarningRAHJohnston, Wayne39 min
Oct 5, 5:20 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHChatham, Harnett, Wake25 min
Oct 5, 6:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston, Wake42 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.