Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 18, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at Sep 17, 1996, 12:50 AM EDT for Beaufort County, North Carolina. It was in force for 40 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
- Sep 17, 1996, 12:50 AM EDT (04:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 17, 1996, 1:30 AM EDT
- In force
- 40 min
- Issued by
- NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Beaufort County, NC
The radar
The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:50 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 | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 17, 1:15 AM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Bayview, 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, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 79 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KMHX 170453 TORMHX NCC013-170515- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT NC 1250 AM EDT TUE SEP 17 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 130 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN EAST CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA ...BEAUFORT COUNTY AT 1250 AM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO ABOUT 5 MILES NORTH OF VANCEBORO. THE TORNADO AND ASSCOIATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WERE MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL BE AFFECTING AREAS FROM BLOUNTS CREEK TO CORE POINT THROUGH 115 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, 12:20 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | MHX | Craven, Pitt | 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, 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.