Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 17, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

April 21, 1997Jones County, Onslow County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 21, 1997, 5:16 PM EDT for Jones County, Onslow County, North Carolina. It was in force for 44 min. 5 reports 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 21, 1997, 5:16 PM EDT (21:16 UTC)
Expired: Apr 21, 1997, 6:00 PM EDT
In force: 44 min
Issued by: NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Jones County, NC, Onslow County, NC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:20 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
Apr 21, 5:29 PM EDT	Hail 1.75	Deppe, NC
Apr 21, 5:30 PM EDT	Tornado F0	Deppe, NC	NC Forestry reported tornado in Hoffman Forest.
Apr 21, 5:31 PM EDT	Hail 2.75	Deppe, NC
Apr 21, 5:52 PM EDT	Hail 1.75	Maysville, NC
Apr 21, 6:08 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Maysville, NC	Catfish Lake Road

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
Apr 21, 4:15 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 47 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: 1181 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 32 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 KMHX 212114 RRA
SVRMHX
NCC103-133-212200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT NC
516 PM EDT MON APR 21 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...JONES COUNTY...NORTHEASTERN ONSLOW COUNTY
 
AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
 
 
AT 5:10 PM SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE NEAR BELGRADE AND RICHLANDS IN
ONSLOW COUNTY. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH AND WILL AFFECT
MAYSVILLE AND TRENTON BY 5:25 PM.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND SOMETIMES DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH
LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT FOR
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 21, 2:45 PM EDT, 2 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 21, 2:45 PM EDT, 2 hours 31 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
245 PM EDT MON APR 21 1997

RDU: FWC TEMPS TOO LOW FOR TNT LIKE MID 60S FOR CWA. UPPER 70S NEAR
80 TUE AND NEAR 60 TUE PM. WED LOW TO MID 70S. POPS 40/30/40/70

DISC: MHX 88-D SHOWING LIGHT SHOWERS WITH LONE TSTM MOVG ACROSS NE
NC. XPCT TO CONT TO SEE SCT SHWRS/TSTMS THIS EVENING. BELIEVE BEST
CHNC OF STRONG THUNDER WILL BE AFT MIDNIGHT. GRIDS SHOWS BEST LIFT
AND UPPER ATMOS DIFLU REMAINING INLAND FROM FAY TO RWI DURING THE
OVR NIGHT HRS. AS FIRST IMPULSE MOVES OFF CST DONT SEE THE FRNT
DROPPING NOT VERY FAR SOUTH INTO NC. NEXT AND MUCH MORE IMPRESSIVE
IMPULSE SHUD BRING MORE WIDESPREAD PRECIP TO E NC. GULF MOIS IS
PULLED NORTH WITH THE DEEPENED TROF AND ATLANTIC WL CONT TO BRING
MOIS INTO THE LOW LEVELS. BETTER CHNC OF SVR WED FOR CWA.

CWF...WL RAISE SCA FOR ENTIRE CSTL WTRS. CONT SPLIT AT HAT. N WTRS S
WIND INCR TO 25 KT SEAS 3 FT INCR TO 5 FT. TUE CONT W WIND SHIFT N.
TUE PM VAR WIND AND BECOMING E WED. WL MENTION SHOWERS AND TSTMS
THROUGHOUT. S WTRS...S WINDS BECOM SW 25 KT. SEAS 4 FT BUILDING TO 6
TNT. WINDS BECOM W TUE AND VAR TUE NIGHT AND SE WED.

.MHX...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY ENTIRE NC COASTAL WATERS.

JCI

JCI

The office that day

Everything else NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 21, 4:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Duplin	39 min
Apr 21, 4:22 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Pitt	38 min
Apr 21, 4:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Jones, Onslow	26 min
Apr 21, 5:12 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Beaufort	33 min
Apr 21, 5:22 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Onslow	38 min
Apr 21, 5:38 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Jones	37 min
Apr 21, 6:22 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Craven	38 min
Apr 21, 7:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Craven	50 min
Apr 21, 7:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Duplin	39 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1997 Every 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.