Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 42, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1997, 8:58 AM EDT for Wake County, North Carolina. It was in force for 32 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
- May 3, 1997, 8:58 AM EDT (12:58 UTC)
- Expired
- May 3, 1997, 9:30 AM EDT
- In force
- 32 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Wake County, NC
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 8:00 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 117 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
- 897 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -95 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 61 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
823 WUUS1 KRDU 031258 RRA SVRRDU NCC183-031330- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC 858 AM EDT SAT MAY 3 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA ...WAKE COUNTY AT 855AM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN RALEIGH SHOWED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM ABOUT 3 MILES WEST OF FUQUAY VARINA. ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER NORTH RALEIGH. THE STORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEAST ABOUT 45 TO 50 MPH. 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, May 3, 6:56 AM EDT, 2 hours 2 minutes before
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088>089-031500- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 700 AM EDT SAT MAY 3 1997 ...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY... (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 OVER ALL OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA THIS MORNING AND THIS AFTERNOON. THE MAIN THREAT ACROSS THE AREA WILL BE HIGH WINDS AND HAIL. AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS... LOCATED OVER EAST TENNESSEE AND WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA EARLY THIS MORNING... WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA TODAY. THESE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT WHICH WILL PUSH INTO CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON. IN ADDITION TO THE SHOWERS AND STORMS THAT WILL CROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON... ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT OVER CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA LATER THIS AFTERNOON. UNSTABLE AIR OVER THE REGION AND STRONG LOW LEVEL WINDS WILL HELP SUPPORT SOME STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WHICH HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR PRODUCING ISOLATED DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED BY 1100 AM. ANOTHER SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AT 1100 AM. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WATCHES AND WARNINGS. GIH ********************************************************************* 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, May 3, 7:00 AM EDT, 1 hour 58 minutes before
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088>089-031500- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 700 AM EDT SAT MAY 3 1997 ...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY... (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 OVER ALL OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA THIS MORNING AND THIS AFTERNOON. THE MAIN THREAT ACROSS THE AREA WILL BE HIGH WINDS AND HAIL. AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS... LOCATED OVER EAST TENNESSEE AND WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA EARLY THIS MORNING... WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA TODAY. THESE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT WHICH WILL PUSH INTO CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON. IN ADDITION TO THE SHOWERS AND STORMS THAT WILL CROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON... ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT OVER CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA LATER THIS AFTERNOON. UNSTABLE AIR OVER THE REGION AND STRONG LOW LEVEL WINDS WILL HELP SUPPORT SOME STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WHICH HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR PRODUCING ISOLATED DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED BY 1100 AM. ANOTHER SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AT 1100 AM. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WATCHES AND WARNINGS. GIH ********************************************************************* 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
The office that day
Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 10:10 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Wilson | 35 min |
| May 3, 10:12 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Wayne | 33 min |
| May 3, 10:31 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Edgecombe | 29 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.