Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Wilmington, NC

May 11, 1996Bladen County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at May 11, 1996, 7:33 PM EDT for Bladen County, North Carolina. It was in force for 47 min. 2 reports 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
May 11, 1996, 7:33 PM EDT (23:33 UTC)
Expired
May 11, 1996, 8:20 PM EDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Bladen County, NC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 11, 7:40 PM EDTTornado F0Bladenboro, NC
May 11, 8:15 PM EDTHail 0.75Bladenboro, 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, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 155 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 1996-05-11Temperature 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 1996-05-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -91 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1470 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-62 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 112335
TORILM
NCC017-120020-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
733 PM EDT SAT MAY 11 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  820 PM EDT
FOR EVERYONE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...BLADEN COUNTY
 
A TORNADO OBSERVED BY DOPPLER RADAR WAS LOCATED IN THE VICINITY OF
EVERGREEN...MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH...PASSING JUST SOUTH OF
ELIZABETHTOWN BY 8 PM. HAIL 3/4 OF AN INCH OR LARGER WILL ACCOMPANY
THIS TORNADO PRODUCING THUNDERSTORM.
 
PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
ACTION TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES. GO TO A BASEMENT...THE \CENTER OF
BUILDINGS...COVER YOUR HEAD. DO NOT GO NEAR DOORS OR WINDOWS. GET
OUT OF MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES. GET INTO A STURDY BUILDING OR A
DITCH.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 11, 6:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMRobeson51 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.