Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 115, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 20, 1997Sampson County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 20, 1997, 8:08 PM EDT for Sampson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 37 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 20, 1997, 8:08 PM EDT (00:08 UTC)
Expired
Aug 20, 1997, 8:45 PM EDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Sampson County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 138 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 1997-08-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2459 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1997-08-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 103 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
2459 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
613 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
103 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
174 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
7.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

733 
WUUS1 KRDU 210010 RRA
SVRRDU
NCC163-210045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
808 PM EDT WED AUG 20 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...SAMPSON COUNTY
 
AT 805 PM...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY CONVERGING
ACROSS CENTRAL SAMPSON COUNTY MOVING EAST AROUND 35 MPH.
 
 
PEOPLE SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND.
FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN CAN POSE A DANGER WITH ANY
THUNDERSTORM.  SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY AND REPORT DAMAGE TO
EMERGENCY OFFICIALS FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

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, Aug 20, 2:49 PM EDT, 5 hours 19 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
249 PM EDT WED AUG 20 1997

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

0240 PM    HENDERSON                 NC   WIND DAMAGE
08/20/97   VANCE                          VANCE COUNTY 911 CENTER
                                          REPORTED A ROOF BLOWN OFF
                                          BUILDING IN HENDERSON
                                          NUMEROUS TREES DOWN AND
                                          POWER OUT ALL OVER THE
                                          COUNTY.
Local storm report, Aug 20, 2:51 PM EDT, 5 hours 17 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
249 PM EDT WED AUG 20 1997

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

0240 PM    HENDERSON                 NC   WIND DAMAGE
08/20/97   VANCE                          VANCE COUNTY 911 CENTER
                                          REPORTED A ROOF BLOWN OFF
                                          BUILDING IN HENDERSON
                                          NUMEROUS TREES DOWN AND
                                          POWER OUT ALL OVER THE
                                          COUNTY.

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.