Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Raleigh, NC

April 15, 1996Halifax County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 1996, 7:30 PM EDT for Halifax County, North Carolina. It was in force for 45 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 15, 1996, 7:30 PM EDT (23:30 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 1996, 8:15 PM EDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Halifax County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 179 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°0°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 KRDU 152330
TORRDU
NCC083-160015-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
730 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...HALIFAX COUNTY
 
AT 725 PM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO
PRODUCING THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHWEST NASH COUNTY. THE STORM WILL BE
ENTERING SOUTHWEST HALIFAX COUNTY DURING THE NEXT 15 MINUTES BETWEEN
INTERSTATE 95 AND THE HALIFAX/WARREN COUNTY LINE. THE STORM WAS MOVING
NORTH-NORTHEAST AROUND 25 MILES AN HOUR.
 
PEOPLE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD ACT NOW TO PROTECT THEIR
LIVES. GO TO THE LOWEST FLOOR...A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM OR CLOSET.
COVER YOUR HEAD. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. GET OUT OF MOBILE HOMES
AND VEHICLES AND INTO A STURDY BUILDING OR A DITCH.  REPORT DAMAGE
TO EMERGENCY OFFICIALSz FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
 
RAN

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

Local storm report, Apr 15, 6:21 PM EDT, 1 hour 9 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
618 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996

TIME       COUNTY/CITY  STATE    EVENT/REMARKS

615 PM    WAKE COUNTY   NC       TORNADO SPOTTED ON THE GROUND BY LAW
          ZEBULON                ENFORCEMENT AND SEVERAL SKYWARN SPOTTERS.

KRC
Local storm report, Apr 15, 6:27 PM EDT, 1 hour 3 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
626 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996

TIME       COUNTY/CITY  STATE    EVENT/REMARKS

620 PM    WAKE COUNTY   NC       ROOF DAMAGE TO SEVERAL HOMES FROM A
          ZEBULON                TORNADO...AT HIGHWAY 96 AND GRRENPACE
                                 ROAD....PER WAKE COUNTY EMERGENCY
                                 MANGAMENT
KK
Local storm report, Apr 15, 6:35 PM EDT, 55 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
634 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996

TIME       COUNTY/CITY  STATE    EVENT/REMARKS

630 PM    WAKE COUNTY   NC       TORNADO TOUCHDOWN NEAR WENDELL IN
          WENDELL                ERN WAKE COUNTY...PER WAKE COUNTY
                                 EMERGENCY MANGAMENT
KK
Local storm report, Apr 15, 6:46 PM EDT, 44 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
640 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996

TIME       COUNTY/CITY  STATE    EVENT/REMARKS

630 PM    WAKE COUNTY   NC       1 FATALITY FROM TORNADO...IN A
          ZEBULON                MOBILE HOME...PER SKYWARN SPOTTER
                                 ON THE SCENE

644 PM   WAKE COUNTY    NC      A SECOND TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN
         ZEBULON                ZEBULON IN EASTERN WAKE COUNTY PER
                                WAKE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANGEMENT

KK
Local storm report, Apr 15, 6:59 PM EDT, 31 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
658 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996

TIME       COUNTY/CITY  STATE    EVENT/REMARKS

655 PM    FRANKLIN CNTY NC       TORNADO ON THE GROUND REPORTED BY
    *      5S BUNN                SKYWARN.

KRC
Local storm report, Apr 15, 7:26 PM EDT, 4 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
722 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996

TIME    COUNTY/CITY    STATE    EVENT/REMARKS

615 PM  WAKE CNTY      NC       WAKE COUNTY EOC REPORTED 17 MOBILE HOMES
        ZEBULON                 DESTROYED 4 DAMAGED IN THE WESTSIDE MOBILE
                                HOME PARK. ANY FURTHER INFORMATION REGARDING
                                INJURIES, FATALITIES NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS
                     p           TIME.

KRC

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 12:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHoke47 min
Apr 15, 12:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHNash42 min
Apr 15, 1:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHarnett46 min
Apr 15, 1:58 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHCumberland32 min
Apr 15, 2:02 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHHarnett28 min
Apr 15, 2:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston36 min
Apr 15, 5:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHCumberland39 min
Apr 15, 6:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWake29 min
Apr 15, 6:16 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHWake29 min
Apr 15, 6:22 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHFranklin38 min
Apr 15, 6:31 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHHarnett29 min
Apr 15, 6:41 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHWake34 min
Apr 15, 6:50 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHFranklin40 min
Apr 15, 7:01 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHNash59 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.