Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 6, NWS Wilmington, NC
NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Jul 5, 1997, 6:48 PM EDT for Bladen County, North Carolina. It was in force for 32 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 5, 1997, 6:48 PM EDT (22:48 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 5, 1997, 7:20 PM EDT
- In force
- 32 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wilmington, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Bladen County, NC
The radar
The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:47 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 7:00 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Tar Heel, NC | NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN |
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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 2:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 155 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
- 3402 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -45 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 721 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 23 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 86 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 42 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KILM 052248 RRA
TORILM
NCC017-052320-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
648 PM EDT SAT JUL 5 1997
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 720 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
IN SOUTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
...BLADEN COUNTY
AT 646 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO JUST NORTHWEST OF
TOBERMORY MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.
THE TORNADO WILL BE IN THE VICINITY OF...
DUART BY 650 PM EDT
TAR HEEL BY 700 PM EDT
WHITE OAK BY 705 PM EDT
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IN A HOME OR
BUSINESS IS AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID
WINDOWS.
ESCUDEThe office that day
Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 4:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Pender | 46 min |
| Jul 5, 4:36 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Columbus | 49 min |
| Jul 5, 5:16 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Pender | 49 min |
| Jul 5, 5:48 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Columbus | 47 min |
| Jul 5, 6:10 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | New Hanover, Pender | 35 min |
| Jul 5, 6:13 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Columbus | 47 min |
| Jul 5, 6:16 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Robeson | 49 min |
| Jul 5, 6:35 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Robeson | 30 min |
| Jul 5, 7:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Robeson | 32 min |
| Jul 5, 7:28 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Bladen | 47 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.