Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 20, NWS Raleigh, NC

April 21, 1997Wayne County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 21, 1997, 4:44 PM EDT for Wayne County, North Carolina. It was in force for 31 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
Apr 21, 1997, 4:44 PM EDT (20:44 UTC)
Expired
Apr 21, 1997, 5:15 PM EDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Wayne County, NC

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 21, 4:15 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 121 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 12:00Z on 1997-04-21Temperature 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°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 1997-04-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 32 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
1181 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
32 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 212038 RRA
SVRRDU
NCC191-212115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
444 PM EDT MON APR 21 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 EAST CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...WAYNE COUNTY
 
AT 435 PM EDT...WEATHER RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AROUND
GOLDSBORO MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.
 
 
ALTHOUGH NO TORNADOES HAVE BEEN DETECTED WITH THIS STORM, A TORNADO
WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT. TORNADOES CAN DEVELOP WITHOUT WARNING FROM
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM.  NOISE LIKE A ROARING TRAIN MAY BE YOUR ONLY
CLUE OF AN APPROACHING TORNADO. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

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, Apr 21, 11:30 AM EDT, 5 hours 14 minutes before
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088>089-221100

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1130 AM EDT MON APR 21 1997

...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON...

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

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS
CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. THE MAIN THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE FROM
ISOLATED AREAS OF STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL.

RAIN WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
DURING THE AFTERNOON. AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE ABOVE THE SURFACE ALONG THE
NORTH CAROLINA/VIRGINIA BORDER WILL BE THE MAIN FEATURE DRIVING THE
POSSIBLITY OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

THE UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT WITH THIS SYSTEM HAS MOVED NORTHEAST INTO VIRGINIA
...THUS THE THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA WILL BE MORE OF AN
ISOLATED NATURE.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

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

RHJ

*********************************************************************

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, Apr 21, 11:32 AM EDT, 5 hours 12 minutes before
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088>089-221100

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1130 AM EDT MON APR 21 1997

...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON...

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

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS
CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. THE MAIN THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE FROM
ISOLATED AREAS OF STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL.

RAIN WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
DURING THE AFTERNOON. AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE ABOVE THE SURFACE ALONG THE
NORTH CAROLINA/VIRGINIA BORDER WILL BE THE MAIN FEATURE DRIVING THE
POSSIBLITY OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

THE UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT WITH THIS SYSTEM HAS MOVED NORTHEAST INTO VIRGINIA
...THUS THE THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA WILL BE MORE OF AN
ISOLATED NATURE.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

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

RHJ

*********************************************************************

ALAMANCE          ANSON              CHATHAM            CUMBERLAND
DAVIDSON          DURHAM             EDGECOMBE          FORSYTH
FRANKLIN          GRANVILLE          GUILFORD           HALIFAX
HARNETT           HOKE               JOHNSTON  r         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
Apr 21, 5:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHSampson27 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.