Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 24, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Nov 8, 1996, 1:38 PM EST for Warren County, North Carolina. It was in force for 37 min. 2 reports 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
- Nov 8, 1996, 1:38 PM EST (18:38 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 8, 1996, 2:15 PM EST
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Warren County, NC
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:38 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 8, 1:45 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Warrenton, NC | |
| Nov 8, 1:45 PM EST | Hail 0.01 | Warrenton, 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
Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 153 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
- 141 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 612 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 61 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 369 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 697 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KRDU 081841 RRA TORRDU NCC185-081915- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC 138 PM EST FRI NOV 8 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 215 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA ...WARREN COUNTY AT 140 PM...DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM...LIKELY CONTAINING A TORNADO...MOVING INTO WARREN COUNTY FROM FRANKLIN COUNTY. THE STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR HIGHWAY 401 MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. WARRENTON AND OTHER COMMUNITIES ALONG HIGHWAY 401 ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. 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.
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, Nov 8, 10:55 AM EST, 2 hours 43 minutes before
NCZALL-091200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 1055 AM EST FRI NOV 8 1996 NORTH CAROLINA SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE EASTERN THIRD OF NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE MAIN THREAT IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA WILL BE FROM STRONG DAMAGING WINDS. PEOPLE IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD KEEP ABREAST OF THE LATEST WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL TV OR RADIO FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WATCHES AND WARNINGS. RHJ
Special weather statement, Nov 8, 11:03 AM EST, 2 hours 35 minutes before
NCZALL-091200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 1055 AM EST FRI NOV 8 1996 NORTH CAROLINA SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE EASTERN THIRD OF NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE MAIN THREAT IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA WILL BE FROM STRONG DAMAGING WINDS. PEOPLE IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD KEEP ABREAST OF THE LATEST WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL TV OR RADIO FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WATCHES AND WARNINGS. RHJ
The office that day
Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 8, 7:25 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Sampson | 35 min |
| Nov 8, 2:34 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Johnston, Wake | 41 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.