Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 35, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 1, 1997Franklin County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 1, 1997, 5:12 PM EDT for Franklin County, North Carolina. It was in force for 33 min. 3 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
May 1, 1997, 5:12 PM EDT (21:12 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 1997, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Franklin County, NC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 1, 5:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Pilot, NC
May 1, 5:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Bunn, NC
May 1, 5:35 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Franklinton, 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
May 1, 3:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 145 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 1997-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1997-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 173 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
864 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
173 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
212 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 012112 RRA
SVRRDU
NCC069-012145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
512 PM EDT THU MAY 1 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...SOUTHERN FRANKLIN COUNTY
 
AT 512 PM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM OVER SOUTHERN FRANKLIN COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE
EAST NORTHEAST ABOUT 35 MPH. THIS STORM HAS ALREADY PRODUCED DIME SIZES
AND NICKEL SIZED HAIL AS IT MOVED ACROSS WAKE COUNTY.
 
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.
 
JWC
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 3:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDavidson36 min
May 1, 3:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHFranklin31 min
May 1, 3:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHRandolph41 min
May 1, 4:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham27 min
May 1, 4:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWake46 min
May 1, 4:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDurham28 min
May 1, 5:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHRandolph35 min
May 1, 5:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHNash, Wake34 min
May 1, 5:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHEdgecombe, Wilson45 min
May 1, 6:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston, Wilson31 min
May 1, 7:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWilson30 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.