Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 17, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 5, 1997, 7:46 PM EST for Warren County, North Carolina. It was in force for 29 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
- Mar 5, 1997, 7:46 PM EST (00:46 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 5, 1997, 8:15 PM EST
- In force
- 29 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Warren County, NC
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:58 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 8:00 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Warrenton, NC |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 6:15 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 734 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -189 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -166 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
891 WUUS1 KRDU 060048 RRA SVRRDU NCC185-060115- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC 746 PM EST WED MAR 5 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 815 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA ...WARREN COUNTY AT 745 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WESTERN WARREN COUNTY. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST AROUND 50 MPH AND WILL REACH WARRENTON BEFORE 8 PM. THESE STORMS HAVE ALREADY PRODUCED WIDESPREAD WIND DAMAGE AND LARGE HAIL. 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
Special weather statement, Mar 5, 6:55 PM EST, 51 minutes before
NCZ001>005-018>021-033>037-048>056-058>065-060100- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION FOR DATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 655 PM EST WED MAR 5 1997 THE TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 95 FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWESTERN AND THE MOUNTAIN REGION OF NORTH CAROLINA HAS NOW BEEN CANCELLED. THE TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM FOR POLK... RUTHERFORD...CLEVELAND AND LINCOLN COUNTIES. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 97 CONTINUES IN EFFECT OVER MOST OF CENTRAL AND NORTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA UNTIL MIDNIGHT. RFG
Special weather statement, Mar 5, 6:55 PM EST, 51 minutes before
NCZ001>005-018>021-033>037-048>056-058>065-060100- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION FOR DATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 655 PM EST WED MAR 5 1997 THE TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 95 FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWESTERN AND THE MOUNTAIN REGION OF NORTH CAROLINA HAS NOW BEEN CANCELLED. THE TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM FOR POLK... RUTHERFORD...CLEVELAND AND LINCOLN COUNTIES. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 97 CONTINUES IN EFFECT OVER MOST OF CENTRAL AND NORTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA UNTIL MIDNIGHT. RFG
Local storm report, Mar 5, 7:13 PM EST, 33 minutes before
THE COUNTY.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 7:03 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Granville | 27 min |
| Mar 5, 7:29 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Granville | 16 min |
| Mar 5, 7:33 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin, Wake | 42 min |
| Mar 5, 7:33 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Vance | 42 min |
| Mar 5, 8:09 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Johnston, Nash | 36 min |
| Mar 5, 8:35 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Wilson | 40 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.