Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Wilmington, NC

July 19, 1997Brunswick County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Jul 19, 1997, 3:32 PM EDT for Brunswick County, North Carolina. It was in force for 33 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 19, 1997, 3:32 PM EDT (19:32 UTC)
Expired
Jul 19, 1997, 4:05 PM EDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Brunswick County, NC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 19 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:32 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 19, 3:40 PM EDTTornado F0Leland, NCTORNADO PICKED UP A SHED AND THREW IT SEVERAL FEET, DESTROYING THE UNIT

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, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 149 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 1997-07-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1180 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 1997-07-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 48 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
1180 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-68 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
901 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
60 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 KILM 191933 RRA
TORILM
NCC019-192005-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
332 PM EDT SAT JUL 19 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 405 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA

   ...EASTERN BRUNSWICK COUNTY
 
AT 330 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO JUST
NORTHWEST OF WINNABOW MOVING SOUTH AT 5 MPH. BRUNSWICK COUNTY
OFFICIALS REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO WITH THIS STORM.

THE TORNADO WILL BE IN THE VICINITY OF...
        WINNABOW                BY 340 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.

LGE

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.