Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 104, NWS Raleigh, NC

July 28, 1997Forsyth County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 28, 1997, 6:07 PM EDT for Forsyth County, North Carolina. It was in force for 38 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 28, 1997, 6:07 PM EDT (22:07 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1997, 6:45 PM EDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Forsyth County, NC

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:10 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 28, 6:20 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Kernersville, NCTREES WERE DOWNED NEAR THE GUILFORD COUNTY LINE JUST EAST OF KERNERSVILLE. ALSO, THE WIND LAID OVER CORN AND TOBACCO ACROSS MANY FARMS IN NORTHEAST FORSYTH COUNTY.

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

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 137 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 381 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -65 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
381 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-172 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1214 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-65 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-41 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 KRDU 282209 RRA
SVRRDU
NCC067-282245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
607 PM EDT MON JUL 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...EASTERN FORSYTH COUNTY
 
AT 607 PM THE WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN RALEIGH'S DOPPLER RADAR
INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NORTHWEST OF KERNERSVILLE. THIS STORM
WAS ALONG HIGHWAY 158 AND WAS MOVING TO THE EAST SLOWLY. VERY STRONG
DOWNBURST WINDS WITH DAMAGE AND HEAVY RAINS UP TO 3 INCHES IN A HOUR OR
LESS AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING.
 
DOWNBURST WINDS FROM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAN SOMETIMES REACH 100
MPH.  A POWERFUL DOWNBURST CAN BE AS BAD AS A TORNADO.  THESE WINDS
DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES...OVERTURN MOBILE HOMES...AND DAMAGE
BUILDINGS. SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY AND REPORT DAMAGES PROMPTLY TO
EMERGENCY OFFICIALS FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
 
JWC

The office that day

Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 28, 6:13 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGuilford32 min
Jul 28, 6:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDavidson34 min
Jul 28, 6:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGuilford30 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.