Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 12, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Apr 20, 1996, 4:03 PM EDT for Forsyth County, North Carolina. It was in force for 27 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
- Apr 20, 1996, 4:03 PM EDT (20:03 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 20, 1996, 4:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 27 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Forsyth County, NC
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:05 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 20, 4:05 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Winston-Salem, 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
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 32 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 591 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 19 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 60 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 86 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KRDU 202006 TORRDU NCC067-202030- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC 403 PM EDT SAT APR 20 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA ...FORSYTH COUNTY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS RECEIVED A REPORT OF A TORNADO ON THE GROUND AT 404 PM IN THE VICINITY OF THE 1200 BLOCK OF MARTIN LUTHER KING BLVD IN SOUTH WINSTON-SALEM. THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. RESIDENTS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. 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 OFFICIALS FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
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, Apr 20, 12:31 PM EDT, 3 hours 32 minutes before
NCZ007>009-021>025-033>041-049>050-053>057-064>076/082>084-201710- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 1230 PM EDT SAT APR 20 1996 NORTH CAROLINA SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE POSSIBLE OVER WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER THE TENNESSEE VALLEY HAS COMBINE WITH WARM...MOIST AIR AT THE SURFACE TO PRODUCE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE REGION THIS MORNING. AS THE UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE CONTINUES MOVING NORTHEAST THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. A FEW OF THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE...PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS AND POSSIBLY LARGE HAIL. PERSONS IN WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS CLOSELY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING BY LISTENING TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA FOR LATER STATEMENTS. RAN
Special weather statement, Apr 20, 2:35 PM EDT, 1 hour 28 minutes before
NCZ048-051>053-058>063-201845- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 234 PM EDT SAT APR 20 1996 ...TORNADO WATCH CANCELLED... TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 199...PREVIOUSLY IN EFFECT FOR THE PORTIONS OF THE CENTRAL...SOUTHERN AND SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA HAS BEEN CANCELLED. RAN
The office that day
Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 20, 5:04 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Alamance | 26 min |
| Apr 20, 5:34 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Orange | 16 min |
| Apr 20, 6:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin | 20 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.