Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 108, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 5, 1997Warren County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 5, 1997, 4:44 PM EDT for Warren County, North Carolina. It was in force for 31 min. 2 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
Aug 5, 1997, 4:44 PM EDT (20:44 UTC)
Expired
Aug 5, 1997, 5:15 PM EDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Warren County, NC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 5, 5:12 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Inez, NCA LARGE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCED A DOWNBURST ALONG A MILE STRETCH OF SR 1640, FROM INEZ TO BETHLEHEM. TWO MOBILE HOMES WERE DESTROYED, 12 OTHER DWELLINGS WERE DAMAGED. ONE MOBILE HOME WAS BLOWN OFF ITS FOUNDATION AND ROLLED OVER THREE TIMES. SR 1640 W
Aug 5, 5:12 PM EDTHail 1.75Inez, NCA LARGE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCED COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF LARGE HAIL. CROP DAMAGE WAS SEVERE FROM INEZ TO OLD BETHLEHEM, ALONG SR 1640. IN MANY TOBACCO FIELDS, NOTHING REMAINED EXCEPT STALKS, SOME OF WHICH HAD BEEN BROKEN BY THE FORCE OF THE HAIL AND WIND. SE

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, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 153 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 1997-08-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 610 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 1997-08-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -54 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
610 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
638 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-23 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KRDU 052044 RRA
SVRRDU
NCC185-052115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
444 PM EDT TUE AUG 5 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...SOUTHERN WARREN COUNTY
 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR HAS DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN
SOUTHERN WARREN COUNTY. THE STORM IS ABOUT THREE MILES SOUTH OF
WARRENTON AND MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. HEAVY RAIN
AND MINOR FLOODING CAN BE EXPECTED ALONG WITH DAMAGING WINDS OR HAIL.

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

Special weather statement, Aug 5, 10:56 AM EDT, 5 hours 48 minutes before
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088>089-060000-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1100 AM EDT TUE AUG 05 1997

(THE SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA APPLIES ONLY TO
THE COUNTIES LISTED AT THE END OF TEXT.)

WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE SOUTHERN PORTION
OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON INTO EARLY EVENING. THE
THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS VERY LOW BUT AN ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORM MAY BECOME STRONG ENOUGH TO PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS
HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL.

A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON
AND MOVE OFFSHORE DURING THE EVENING. THUS A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY
FORM ALONG THE FRONT. ALSO AFTERNOON HEATING WILL AID IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED BUT ANY REPORTS WOULD BE
APPRECIATED.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE
WATCHES AND WARNINGS.

MLM
*********************************************************************

ALAMANCE          ANSON              CHATHAM            CUMBERLAND
DAVIDSON          DURHAM             EDGECOMBE          FORSYTH
FRANKLIN          GRANVILLE          GUILFORD           HALIFAX
HARNETT           HOKE               JOHNSTON           LEE
MONTGOMERY        MOORE              NASH               ORANGE
PERSON            RANDOLPH           RICHMOND         @  SAMPSON
SCOTLAND          STANLY             VANCE              WAKE
WARREN            WAYNE              WILSON
Special weather statement, Aug 5, 11:00 AM EDT, 5 hours 44 minutes before
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088>089-060000-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1100 AM EDT TUE AUG 05 1997

(THE SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA APPLIES ONLY TO
THE COUNTIES LISTED AT THE END OF TEXT.)

WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE SOUTHERN PORTION
OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON INTO EARLY EVENING. THE
THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS VERY LOW BUT AN ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORM MAY BECOME STRONG ENOUGH TO PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS
HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL.

A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON
AND MOVE OFFSHORE DURING THE EVENING. THUS A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY
FORM ALONG THE FRONT. ALSO AFTERNOON HEATING WILL AID IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED BUT ANY REPORTS WOULD BE
APPRECIATED.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE
WATCHES AND WARNINGS.

MLM
*********************************************************************

ALAMANCE          ANSON              CHATHAM            CUMBERLAND
DAVIDSON          DURHAM             EDGECOMBE          FORSYTH
FRANKLIN          GRANVILLE          GUILFORD           HALIFAX
HARNETT           HOKE               JOHNSTON           LEE
MONTGOMERY        MOORE              NASH               ORANGE
PERSON            RANDOLPH           RICHMOND           SAMPSON
SCOTLAND          STANLY             VANCE              WAKE
WARREN            WAYNE              WILSON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 5, 4:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHalifax32 min
Aug 5, 5:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston41 min
Aug 5, 5:28 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHJohnston17 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.