Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

April 21, 1997Martin County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 21, 1997, 10:18 PM EDT for Martin County, North Carolina. It was in force for 27 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
Apr 21, 1997, 10:18 PM EDT (02:18 UTC)
Expired
Apr 21, 1997, 10:45 PM EDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Martin County, NC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 120 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:21 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
Apr 21, 10:22 PM EDTHail 0.75Jamesville, NCCovered the ground.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 21, 10:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 00:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 120 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 00:00Z on 1997-04-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 434 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Newport, NC at 00:00Z on 1997-04-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 129 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
434 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-81 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
804 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
129 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
196 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KMHX 220216 RRA
SVRMHX
NCC117-220245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT NC
1018 PM EDT MON APR 21 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...EASTERN MARTIN COUNTY
 
AT 10:15 PM RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER EASTERN
MARTIN COUNTY ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTH OF JAMESVILLE. THE STORM WAS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH AND WILL REACH JAMESVILLE BY 10:25 PM. THERE IS A
POSSIBILITY OF LARGE HAIL WITH THIS STORM.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...LARGE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR
YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
AVOID DRIVING INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 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.