Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Raleigh, NC

April 15, 1996Franklin County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 1996, 6:50 PM EDT for Franklin County, North Carolina. It was in force for 40 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
Apr 15, 1996, 6:50 PM EDT (22:50 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 1996, 7:30 PM EDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Franklin County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 145 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 12:00Z on 1996-04-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1996-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 206 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
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 152253
TORRDU
NCC069-152330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
650 PM EDT MON APR 15 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 NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...FRANKLIN COUNTY
 
AT 650 PM EDT...FRANKLIN COUNTY EMERGENCY OFFICIALS REPORTED A TORNADO
ON THE GROUND IN SOUTHERN FRANKLIN COUNTY NEAR PILOT ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTH
OF BUNN. THE STORM PRODUCING THE TORNADO WAS MOVING TOWARD THE
NORTH-NORTHEAST AROUND 25 MILES AN HOUR.
 
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.

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

Local storm report, Apr 15, 5:23 PM EDT, 1 hour 27 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
517 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996

TIME       COUNTY/CITY  STATE    EVENT/REMARKS

450 PM     WAKE CNTY NR          FROM CTY 911... SEVERAL TREES DOWN WITHn
           NEW HILL     NC       SOME STRUCTURAL DAMAGE.

455 PM     WAKE CNTY    NC       SKYWARN... ONE HOUSE DAMAGED, POWER LINES
                                 DOWN, NEAR SHEARON HARRIS NUCLEAR PWR PLANT.

KRC
Local storm report, Apr 15, 6:06 PM EDT, 44 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
603 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996

TIME       COUNTY/CITY  STATE    EVENT/REMARKS

557 PM    FROM SKYWARN RADIO OPERATORS - DIME SIZE HAIL WITH
          TREES DOWN FROM WINDS...ON GRASSHOPER RD IN EXTREME
          ERN WAKE COUNTY NEAR JOHNSTON COUNTY LINE.

KK
Local storm report, Apr 15, 6:21 PM EDT, 29 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
618 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996

TIME       COUNTY/CITY  STATE    EVENT/REMARKS

615 PM    WAKE COUNTY   NC       TORNADO SPOTTED ON THE GROUND BY LAW
          ZEBULON                ENFORCEMENT AND SEVERAL SKYWARN SPOTTERS.

KRC
Local storm report, Apr 15, 6:27 PM EDT, 23 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
626 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996

TIME       COUNTY/CITY  STATE    EVENT/REMARKS

620 PM    WAKE COUNTY   NC       ROOF DAMAGE TO SEVERAL HOMES FROM A
          ZEBULON                TORNADO...AT HIGHWAY 96 AND GRRENPACE
                                 ROAD....PER WAKE COUNTY EMERGENCY
                                 MANGAMENT
KK
Local storm report, Apr 15, 6:35 PM EDT, 15 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
634 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996

TIME       COUNTY/CITY  STATE    EVENT/REMARKS

630 PM    WAKE COUNTY   NC       TORNADO TOUCHDOWN NEAR WENDELL IN
          WENDELL                ERN WAKE COUNTY...PER WAKE COUNTY
                                 EMERGENCY MANGAMENT
KK
Local storm report, Apr 15, 6:46 PM EDT, 4 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
640 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996

TIME       COUNTY/CITY  STATE    EVENT/REMARKS

630 PM    WAKE COUNTY   NC       1 FATALITY FROM TORNADO...IN A
          ZEBULON                MOBILE HOME...PER SKYWARN SPOTTER
                                 ON THE SCENE

644 PM   WAKE COUNTY    NC      A SECOND TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN
         ZEBULON                ZEBULON IN EASTERN WAKE COUNTY PER
                                WAKE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANGEMENT

KK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 12:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHoke47 min
Apr 15, 12:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHNash42 min
Apr 15, 1:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHarnett46 min
Apr 15, 1:58 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHCumberland32 min
Apr 15, 2:02 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHHarnett28 min
Apr 15, 2:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston36 min
Apr 15, 5:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHCumberland39 min
Apr 15, 6:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWake29 min
Apr 15, 6:16 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHWake29 min
Apr 15, 6:22 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHFranklin38 min
Apr 15, 6:31 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHHarnett29 min
Apr 15, 6:41 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHWake34 min
Apr 15, 7:01 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHNash59 min
Apr 15, 7:30 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHHalifax45 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.