Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Wilmington, NC

April 15, 1996Pender County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 1996, 11:26 AM EDT for Pender County, North Carolina. It was in force for 64 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Apr 15, 1996, 11:26 AM EDT (15:26 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 1996, 12:30 PM EDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Pender County, NC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:26 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 15, 11:50 AM EDTTornado F0Wards Corner, NC

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 97 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 1996-04-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 1996-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 82 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1001 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
82 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
60 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 KILM 151526
TORILM
NCC141-151630-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
1126 AM EDT MON APR 15 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1230 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA

   ...PENDER
 
AT 1124 AM EDT...A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY WILMINGTON DOPPLER
RADAR JUST SOUTHEAST OF CURRIE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE AROUND WARDS CORNER BY 1145 AM EDT.
IT WILL CONTINUE TO JUST NORTH OF BURGAW BEFORE NOON.
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED
AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A
TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

SQI

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 10:54 AM EDTTornado WarningILMPender31 min
Apr 15, 4:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMRobeson33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes in 1996

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.