Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Raleigh, NC

April 15, 1996Harnett County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 1996, 2:02 PM EDT for Harnett County, North Carolina. It was in force for 28 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 15, 1996, 2:02 PM EDT (18:02 UTC)
Expired: Apr 15, 1996, 2:30 PM EDT
In force: 28 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Harnett County, NC

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 15, 2:07 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Erwin, 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, 6.0 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.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 819 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 206 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 280 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 151806
TORRDU
NCC085-151830-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
202 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...EASTERN HARNETT COUNTY
 
AT 200 PM...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO MOVING
OUT OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY INTO EASTERN HARNETT COUNTY APPROACHING ERWIN.
THE STORM WAS MOVING 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 F4ROM 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.
 
JSJ

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 15, 10:41 AM EDT, 3 hours 21 minutes before

NCZ041-042-151545-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
1038 AM EDT MON APR 15 1996

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA...

AT 1035 AM...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM
MOVING OUT OF NORTHEAST HARNETT COUNTY INTO JOHNSTON COUNTY. THE STORM
WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT AROUND 25 MILES AN HOUR. SMALL
HAIL...STRONG WINDS...AND HEAVY RAINS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND/OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

JSJ

Special weather statement, Apr 15, 11:59 AM EDT, 2 hours 3 minutes before

NCZ026-027-041-042-043-151700-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
1156 AM EDT MON APR 15 1996

AT 1155 AM...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM
MOVING OUT OF EASTERN WAKE COUNTY AND NORTHWESTERN JOHNSTON COUNTY. THE
STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT AROUND 25 MPH AND WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE
INTO FRANKLIN...NASH...AND WILSON COUNTIES. STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY
RAINFALL...AND SMALL HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND/OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

JSJ

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 15, 12:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Hoke	47 min
Apr 15, 12:48 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Nash	42 min
Apr 15, 1:14 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Harnett	46 min
Apr 15, 1:58 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Cumberland	32 min
Apr 15, 2:54 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Johnston	36 min
Apr 15, 5:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Cumberland	39 min
Apr 15, 6:01 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Wake	29 min
Apr 15, 6:16 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Wake	29 min
Apr 15, 6:22 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Franklin	38 min
Apr 15, 6:31 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Harnett	29 min
Apr 15, 6:41 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Wake	34 min
Apr 15, 6:50 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Franklin	40 min
Apr 15, 7:01 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Nash	59 min
Apr 15, 7:30 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RAH	Halifax	45 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes 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.