Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

September 17, 1996Craven County, Pitt County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at Sep 17, 1996, 12:20 AM EDT for Craven County, Pitt County, North Carolina. It was in force for 40 min. 3 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: Sep 17, 1996, 12:20 AM EDT (04:20 UTC)
Expired: Sep 17, 1996, 1:00 AM EDT
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Craven County, NC, Pitt County, NC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:20 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

Time	Report	Where
Sep 17, 12:30 AM EDT	Tornado F1	Ft Barnwell, NC
Sep 17, 12:45 AM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Gardnerville, NC
Sep 17, 12:45 AM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Vanceboro, 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 00:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 71 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: 266 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 802 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 178 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 250 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHAT 170423 COR
TORMHX
NCC049-147-170500-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING - CORRECTED FOR TIME ISSUED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT NC
1220 AM EDT TUE SEP 17 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  100 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN EAST CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA

   ...WESTERN CRAVEN COUNTY...SOUTHERN PITT COUNTY

AT 1216 AM WEATHER RADAR AND THE PUBLIC REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND
OVER EASTERN LENOIR COUNTY BETWEEN GRIFTON AND FORT BARNWELL. THIS STORM
WILL MOVE ALONG THE PITT-CRAVEN COUNTY LINE WITH THE TORNADO AFFECTING
AREAS FROM CALICO TO VANCEBORO AROUND 1230 AM.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

JME/RVT

The office that day

Everything else NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 16, 10:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Duplin	33 min
Sep 16, 11:46 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Lenoir	29 min
Sep 17, 12:50 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Beaufort	40 min
Sep 17, 1:26 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	MHX	Lenoir	4 hr
Sep 17, 1:55 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Hyde	50 min
Sep 17, 3:18 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Pitt	42 min
Sep 17, 3:35 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Dare	25 min
Sep 17, 3:41 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Martin	34 min
Sep 17, 6:38 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Carteret	52 min
Sep 17, 8:07 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Carteret	38 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.