Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

May 29, 1996Lenoir County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at May 29, 1996, 9:01 PM EDT for Lenoir County, North Carolina. It was in force for 44 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 29, 1996, 9:01 PM EDT (01:01 UTC)
Expired: May 29, 1996, 9:45 PM EDT
In force: 44 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 01:00 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
May 29, 9:05 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Lagrange, NC
May 29, 9:05 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61	Kinston, 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, 1.0 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-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: 1587 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 629 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -12 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: -0.3
Supercell composite: -1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMHX 300103
TORMHX
NCC107-300145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT NC
901 PM EDT WED MAY 29 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...LENOIR COUNTY
 
AT 900 PM WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING
TORNADO ON THE GREENE AND LENOIR COUNTY LINE 5 MILES NORTH OF
LAGRANGE. PERSONS IN LAGRANGE SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY
AND THE TORNADO WILL LIKELY AFFECT AREAS AROUND KINSTON BY 930
PM AS THE STORM MOVES SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
 
TORNADOES WHICH OCCUR AFTER DARK ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS. GET TO A
PLACE OF SAFETY NOW. STAY AWAY FROM DOORS AND WINDOWS. LEAVE MOBILE
HOMES AND CARS FOR THE SAFETY OF A STURDY BUILDING. IF DAMAGE OCCURS
NEAR YOU...STAY INDOORS UNTIL DAYLIGHT. THERE MAY BE DOWNED POWER
LINES AND OTHER HAZARDS THAT CANNOT BE SEEN IN THE DARK.
 
RVT/RF

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 29, 3:16 PM EDT, 5 hours 45 minutes before

NCZ080-095-093-047-090-079-081-092-091-029-104-098-094-503-044-
046-045-502-103-300015-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT NC
319 PM EDT WED MAY 29 1996

THE STORMS PREDICTION CENTER IN KANSAS CITY HAS PLACED MUCH OF EASTERN
NORTH CAROLINA IN AN AREA OF MODERATE RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
EFFECTIVE 300 PM EDT THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH 800 AM EDT THURSDAY MORNING.
HAREA OF CONCERN IS FOR THE ALBEMARLE SOUND AND SOUTH.

ELMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS...SPOTTERS AND LAW EFFORCEMENT AGENCIES
SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER WHICH MAY INCLU
:HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...TORNADOES AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

JCI

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 29, 8:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Greene, Lenoir	47 min
May 29, 9:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Craven, Jones	43 min
May 29, 10:22 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Craven	23 min
May 29, 10:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Carteret	41 min
May 29, 11:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Carteret	47 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.