Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 43, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

June 3, 1997Onslow County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 3, 1997, 2:50 PM EDT for Onslow County, North Carolina. It was in force for 40 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
Jun 3, 1997, 2:50 PM EDT (18:50 UTC)
Expired
Jun 3, 1997, 3:30 PM EDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Onslow County, NC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:51 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
Jun 3, 3:15 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Hubert, NCTrees down on Route 172 just off Highway 24.

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, 6.8 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 1997-06-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 26 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 1997-06-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -16 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
26 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-74 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1287 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMHX 031850 RRA
SVRMHX
NCC133-031930-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT NC
250 PM EDT TUE JUN 3 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...EASTERN ONSLOW COUNTY
 
AT 245 PM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED BETWEEN HUBERT AND BEAR
CREEK. IT IS DRIFTING SLOWLY NORTH AND WILL AFFECT HUBERT AND SILVERDALE
BY 330 PM.
 
DIME TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL...HIGH WINDS...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN CAN BE
EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. PERSONS AROUND HIGHWAY 24 BETWEEN SWANSBORO
AND JACKSVILLE SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR 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.

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.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 3, 12:49 PM EDT, 2 hours 1 minute before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
1249 PM EDT TUE JUN 3 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1236 PM   PINK HILL                 NC
06/3/97   LENOIR                         MARBLE-SIZED HAIL REPORTED BY
                                         LENOIR CO EMC.
CG
Local storm report, Jun 3, 1:39 PM EDT, 1 hour 11 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
139 PM EDT TUE JUN 3 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

110 PM   PHILLIPS CROSSROADS        NC
06/3/97   JONES                          GOLFBALL SIZED HAIL REPORTED BY
                                         JONES CO EMC.
CG
Local storm report, Jun 3, 2:14 PM EDT, 36 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
214 PM EDT TUE JUN 3 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

205 PM   WALLACE                    NC
06/3/97   DUPLIN                         DIME SIZED HAIL REPORTED BY
                                         FIRE DEPT.

CG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 3, 12:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXJones, Lenoir40 min
Jun 3, 1:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXJones54 min
Jun 3, 1:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXJones39 min
Jun 3, 1:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXDuplin62 min
Jun 3, 3:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXCarteret49 min

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.