Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Raleigh, NC

July 15, 1996Johnston County, Wayne County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Jul 15, 1996, 6:59 PM EDT for Johnston County, Wayne County, North Carolina. It was in force for 31 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
Jul 15, 1996, 6:59 PM EDT (22:59 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 1996, 7:30 PM EDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Johnston County, NC, Wayne County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 37 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:59 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 140 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 1996-07-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 986 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1996-07-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 65 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
986 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
559 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
65 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
45 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 152303
TORRDU
NCC101-191-152330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
659 PM EDT MON JUL 15 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...EASTERN JOHNSTON COUNTY...WAYNE COUNTY
 
AT 700 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO
JUST NORTH OF NEWTON GROVE MOVING TO THR NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
 
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.
 
RN/KRC

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, Jul 15, 6:29 PM EDT, 30 minutes before
NCZALL-160000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
628 PM EDT MON JUL 15 1996

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCHES NOW COVER ALL OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
ROUGHLY ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM ROXBORO...HILLSBOROUGH...SILER
CITY...SOUTHERN PINES...AND ROCKINGHAM EASTWARD TO THE COAST.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN EFFECT EARLIER FOR THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT AND
SOUTHERN PIEDMONT HAVE NOW BEEN CANCELLED.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RAD,IO...COMMERICAL RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR
LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

RFG
Local storm report, Jul 15, 6:45 PM EDT, 14 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
640 PM EDT MON JUL 15 1996

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0630 PM              \                NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/15/96   NASH                           TREES DOWN NORTH OF
                                          NASHVILLE REPORTED DURING
                                          THE PAST HOUR.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 15, 3:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHStanly38 min
Jul 15, 3:13 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHMoore32 min
Jul 15, 3:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDavidson, Montgomery, Stanly47 min
Jul 15, 3:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHRandolph47 min
Jul 15, 5:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston40 min
Jul 15, 6:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston45 min
Jul 15, 6:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHNash28 min
Jul 15, 6:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWilson45 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.