Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Raleigh, NC

February 21, 1997Montgomery County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 1997, 6:17 PM EST for Montgomery County, North Carolina. It was in force for 43 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
Feb 21, 1997, 6:17 PM EST (23:17 UTC)
Expired
Feb 21, 1997, 7:00 PM EST
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Montgomery County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 133 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:20 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
Feb 21, 6:45 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50Badin Lake, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Feb 21, 5:30 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 83 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1997-02-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1997-02-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
527 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
164 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 212319 RRA
SVRRDU
NCC123-220000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
617 PM EST FRI FEB 21 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...MONTGOMERY COUNTY
 
A STRONG BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE COUNTY THIS
EVENING. THESE STORMS HAVE A HISTORY OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS GREATER
THAN 50 MPH. THE LINE OF STORMS IS MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.
 
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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 21, 5:43 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAnson, Stanly47 min
Feb 21, 6:35 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHRandolph25 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.