Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Raleigh, NC

July 25, 1996Person County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Jul 25, 1996, 8:49 PM EDT for Person County, North Carolina. It was in force for 26 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, 8:49 PM EDT (00:49 UTC)
Expired
Jul 25, 1996, 9:15 PM EDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Person County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:48 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 25, 9:00 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Milton, 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 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 90 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1996-07-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 657 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1996-07-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 59 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
657 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
541 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
2.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KRDU 260051
TORRDU
NCC145-260115-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
849 PM EDT THU JUL 25 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...EASTERN PERSON COUNTY
 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES A TORNADO FORMING ABOUT
THREE MILES EAST OF ROXBORO. THE TORNADO WILL MOVE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 20
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 MOBILEh HOMES
AND VEHICLES AND INTO A STURDY BUILDING OR A DITCH.  REPORT DAMAGE
TO EMERGENCY OFFICIALS FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 25, 8:03 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHJohnston42 min
Jul 25, 8:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham63 min
Jul 25, 8:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston45 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.