Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Wilmington, NC

May 24, 1996Bladen County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1996, 5:31 PM EDT for Bladen County, North Carolina. It was in force for 39 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: May 24, 1996, 5:31 PM EDT (21:31 UTC)
Expired: May 24, 1996, 6:10 PM EDT
In force: 39 min
Issued by: NWS Wilmington, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Bladen County, NC

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 24, 5:45 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Elizabethtown, 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, 9.5 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1437 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -53 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 8 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 242132
TORILM
NCC017-242200-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
531 PM EDT FRI MAY 24 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  610 PM EDT
FOR EVERYONE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...BLADEN COUNTY
 
A TORNADO WAS DETECTED BY DOPPLER RADAR...IN THE VICINITY OF WHITE
OAK...MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THE TORNADO WILL TRAVEL
PARALLEL TO HIGHWAY 53...REACHING THE VICINITY OF ELIZABETHTOWN BY 545
PM. IT WILL CONTINUE MOVING SOUTHEAST IN THE VICINITY OF HIGHWAY 53 AND
THE CAPE FEAR RIVER.
 
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.

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.

NWS Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 24, 2:00 PM EDT, 3 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 24, 2:00 PM EDT, 3 hours 31 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
2 PM EDT FRI MAY 24 1996

RAH & CAE: CURRENT TRND.

DISC: HI PRES WILL CONT TO MOV OFSHR AS CDFNT CURRENTLY OVR VA
MOVS S. MDLS RMN IN RATHER GOOD AGRMNT IN MOVG FNT INTO CWA BY
12Z SAT. XPC CLDS TO INCR OVR AREA TNGT IN ADVC OF FNT. FEW
RW/TRW PSBL SAT/SAT NGT. GOING FCSTS OK. TEMPS DOWN SAT AS
INDCD BY DCRG THKNS AND H85 TEMPS. GNDC TEMPS LOOK GOOD AND
WILL FOLLOW. FOR THE CSTL WTRS...CONT CURRENT TRND.

ILM EB 067/083 065/080 065 21223
FLO EB 066/088 065/084 065 21233

DTR

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 24, 5:18 PM EDT, 13 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA
516 PM EDT FRI MAY 24 1996

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0510 PM    SAINT PAULS               NC   WIND DAMAGE
05/11/96   ROBESON                        TREES DOWN.

DCH
05/11/96   BLADEN                         .75 INCH HAIL AND TREES
                                          DOWN

1105 PM    MARION                    SC   WIND DAMAGE
05/11/96   MARION                         TREE DOWN 8 WEST OF MARION
                                          NEAR THE TOWN OF PEE DEE

1131 PM    LAKE VIEW                 SC   WIND DAMAGE
05/11/96   DILLON                         TREES DOWN 10 MI W LAKE
                                          VIEW

Local storm report, May 24, 5:19 PM EDT, 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTION REMOVED OLD DATA...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA
516 PM EDT FRI MAY 24 1996

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0510 PM    SAINT PAULS               NC   WIND DAMAGE
05/11/96   ROBESON                        TREES DOWN.

DCH

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 24, 4:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Bladen, Robeson	48 min
May 24, 5:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Columbus, Robeson	75 min

Nearby

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