Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 19, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 5, 1997, 8:35 PM EST for Edgecombe County, Wilson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 40 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
- Mar 5, 1997, 8:35 PM EST (01:35 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 5, 1997, 9:15 PM EST
- In force
- 40 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Edgecombe County, NC, Wilson County, NC
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:39 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, 9:00 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Elm City, NC | |
| Mar 5, 9:10 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Tarboro, 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
Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 139 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
- 527 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 548 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 63 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 280 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 318 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 4.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KRDU 060138 RRA SVRRDU NCC065-195-060215- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC 835 PM EST WED MAR 5 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA ...EDGECOMBE COUNTY...WILSON COUNTY A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH ROCKY MOUNT AROUND 845 PM AND THEN MOVE INTO WILSON AROUND 900 PM. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. DAMAGE HAS ALREADY BEEN REPORTED. IF YOU ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM TAKE COVER NOW! GO TO THE CENTER AND LOWEST LEVEL OF YOUR HOUSE, IN A SMALL ROOM, AWAY FRhOM WINDOWS.
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, 8:19 PM EST, 16 minutes before
NCZ006>010-022>026-038>041-060300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 820 PM EST WED MAR 5 1997 THE PORTION OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 97 COVERING THE NORTHEAST AND NORTHERN PIEDMONT HAS NOW BEEN CANCELLED. HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED SOUTH AND EAST OF THESE AREAS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 97 CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT OVER THE SOUTHERN PIEDMONT...SANDHILLS...AND PORTIONS OF THE CENTRAL @AND NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN. RFG
Special weather statement, Mar 5, 8:20 PM EST, 15 minutes before
NCZ006>010-022>026-038>041-060300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 820 PM EST WED MAR 5 1997 THE PORTION OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 97 COVERING THE NORTHEAST AND NORTHERN PIEDMONT HAS NOW BEEN CANCELLED. HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED SOUTH AND EAST OF THESE AREAS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 97 CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT OVER THE SOUTHERN PIEDMONT...SANDHILLS...AND PORTIONS OF THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN. RFG
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, 7:46 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Warren | 29 min |
| Mar 5, 8:09 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Johnston, Nash | 36 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.