Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

April 15, 1996Lenoir County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 1996, 3:56 PM EDT for Lenoir County, North Carolina. It was in force for 34 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
Apr 15, 1996, 3:56 PM EDT (19:56 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 1996, 4:30 PM EDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Lenoir County, NC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:57 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, 4:20 PM EDTTornado F0Deep Run, NC
Apr 15, 4:32 PM EDTTornado F0Kinston, NC
Apr 15, 4:35 PM EDTTornado F1Kinston, 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, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 86 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°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 KMHX 151956
TORMHX
NCC107-152030-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT NC
356 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...LENOIR COUNTY
 
RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO MOVING INTO LENOIR COUNTY FROM THE SOUTHWEST.
THE TORNADO WILL BE AFFECTING AREAS NEAR STATE ROUTE 11 AND WILL MOVE
NEAR KINSTON AROUND 430 PM.
 
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/TK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 3:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXDuplin51 min
Apr 15, 3:33 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXDuplin27 min
Apr 15, 4:03 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXDuplin12 min
Apr 15, 4:19 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXLenoir41 min
Apr 15, 4:52 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXGreene, Pitt38 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.