Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 7, NWS Raleigh, NC

March 5, 1997Guilford County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 5, 1997, 5:49 PM EST for Guilford County, North Carolina. It was in force for 41 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, 5:49 PM EST (22:49 UTC)
Expired
Mar 5, 1997, 6:30 PM EST
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Guilford County, NC

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:51 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
Mar 5, 6:20 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50Greensboro, NC
Mar 5, 6:20 PM ESTHail 0.75Greensboro, 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 nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 10 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 1997-03-05Temperature 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 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 1997-03-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 66 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1128 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
66 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
139 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.

234 
WUUS1 KRDU 052252 RRA
SVRRDU
NCC081-052330-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
549 PM EST WED MAR 5 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...GUILFORD COUNTY
 
AT 550 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO
GUILFORD COUNTY NEAR STOKESDALE. THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST AT
50 MPH. THE STORM WILL MOVING THROUGH NORTHERN GREENSBORO SHORTLY
AFTER 6 PM.
 
 
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
Mar 5, 5:31 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHForsyth44 min
Mar 5, 6:12 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGuilford33 min
Mar 5, 6:23 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAlamance37 min
Mar 5, 6:42 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHOrange33 min
Mar 5, 6:46 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHPerson44 min
Mar 5, 6:53 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDurham37 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.