Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 121, NWS Wakefield, VA

July 18, 1997City of Suffolk, Virginia; Camden County, Gates County, North Carolina

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 18, 1997, 3:35 PM EDT for City of Suffolk, Virginia; Camden County, Gates County, North Carolina. It was in force for 35 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 18, 1997, 3:35 PM EDT (19:35 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 1997, 4:10 PM EDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Camden County, NC, Gates County, NC, City of Suffolk, VA

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:37 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 18, 3:42 PM EDTThunderstorm WindSunbury, NCTrees down on Route 158.

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

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 194 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 1997-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1685 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 1997-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -6 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1685 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
763 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-3 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wakefield, VA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 18, 2:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQNorthampton33 min
Jul 18, 2:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQCurrituck33 min
Jul 18, 3:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQGates, Hertford35 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1997Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Virginia, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997

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.