Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 18, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Jul 25, 1996, 6:51 PM EDT for Harnett County, North Carolina. It was in force for 39 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
- Jul 25, 1996, 6:51 PM EDT (22:51 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 25, 1996, 7:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 39 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Harnett County, NC
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:50 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 25, 6:55 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Lillington, 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, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 122 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
- 1413 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -14 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 736 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 48 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 80 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KRDU 252254 TORRDU NCC085-252330- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC 651 PM EDT THU JUL 25 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA ...HARNETT COUNTY AT 651 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN HARNETT COUNTY ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LILLINGTON. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 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. TORNADOES IN THE SOUTH ARE HARD TO SEE BECAUSE OF RAIN, HAZE, LOW CLOUDS AND TREES. OFTEN YOUR ONLY WARNING MAY BE A LOUD ROARING SOUND AND FLYING DEBRIS. BUT THAT MAY BE TOO LATE. TAKE COVER NOW! WHEN SAFE TO DO SO, REPORT DAMAGES TO EMERGENCY OFFICIALS PROMPTLY. GIH
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 25, 6:49 PM EDT, 2 minutes before
NCZ010>017-026>028-030>032-043-102-260000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 644 PM EDT THU JUL 25 1996 SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 849 IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR ANY COUNTIES IN NORTH CAROLINA. THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WHICH PRODUCED THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM THREAT HAS MOVED INTO VIRGINIA. ALTHOUGH THE WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE OVER NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA FOR THE REMAINDER OF TONIGHT. END
The office that day
Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 25, 12:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Sampson | 36 min |
| Jul 25, 12:40 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RAH | Guilford | 2 hr |
| Jul 25, 7:40 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RAH | Harnett | 35 min |
| Jul 25, 7:40 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Harnett | 35 min |
| Jul 25, 7:57 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Moore | 33 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.