Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 96, NWS Raleigh, NC

July 18, 1997Halifax County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 18, 1997, 5:22 PM EDT for Halifax County, North Carolina. It was in force for 38 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
Jul 18, 1997, 5:22 PM EDT (21:22 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 1997, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Halifax County, NC

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:24 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
Jul 18, 5:55 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Scotland Neck, NCTHE COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED NUMEROUS TREES DOWN IN THE SCOTLAND NECK AREA. SOME TREES UP TO TWO FEET IN DIAMETER.

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

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 179 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 1997-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1685 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 1997-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -6 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1685 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
763 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-3 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 182123 RRA
SVRRDU
NCC083-182200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
522 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...SOUTHERN HALIFAX COUNTY
 
AT 420 PM EDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER
SOUTHERN HALIFAX COUNTY IN AND AROUND SCOTLAND NECK. THE STORM HAS SHOWN
LITTLE MOVEMENT IN THE PAST SEVERAL MINUTES...BUT IS EXPECTED TO DRIFT
VERY SLOWLY SOUTHEAST.
 
PEOPLE SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND.
FREQUENT LIG4HTNING 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, Jul 18, 11:25 AM EDT, 5 hours 57 minutes before
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088>089-190000-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1125 AM EDT FRI JUL 18 1997

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

WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON OVER
CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED ALTHOUGH
ISOLATED STORMS MAY BE STRONG ENOUGH TO PRODUCE SOME SMALL HAIL AND
STRONG WINDS.

A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WILL LINGER OVER CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
INTO SATURDAY. AS TEMPERATURES CLIMB INTO THE LOW AND MID 90S THIS
AFTERNOON...THIS TROUGH WILL ACT A FOCUS FOR DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON. SPOTTERS ARE
ALWAYS ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER.
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, Jul 18, 1:29 PM EDT, 3 hours 53 minutes before
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088>089-190000-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1125 AM EDT FRI JUL 18 1997

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

WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON OVER
CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED ALTHOUGH
ISOLATED STORMS MAY BE STRONG ENOUGH TO PRODUCE SOME SMALL HAIL AND
STRONG WINDS.

A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WILL LINGER OVER CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
INTO SATURDAY. AS TEMPERATURES CLIMB INTO THE LOW AND MID 90S THIS
AFTERNOON...THIS TROUGH WILL ACT A FOCUS FOR DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON. SPOTTERS ARE
ALWAYS ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER.
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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 18, 6:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWilson32 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.