Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 98, NWS Raleigh, NC

July 19, 1997Halifax County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 19, 1997, 6:56 PM EDT for Halifax County, North Carolina. It was in force for 34 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 19, 1997, 6:56 PM EDT (22:56 UTC)
Expired
Jul 19, 1997, 7:30 PM EDT
In force
34 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 23:00 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 19, 7:25 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Roanoke Rapids, NCTREES AND POWER LINES WERE DOWNED WITH THE PASSAGE OF THIS STORM. A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF URBAN FLOODING ALSO OCCURRED.

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, 10.9 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 1997-07-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1180 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 1997-07-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 48 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
1180 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-68 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
901 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
60 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 192257 RRA
SVRRDU
NCC083-192330-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
656 PM EDT SAT JUL 19 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...EASTERN HALIFAX COUNTY
 
AT 655 PM EDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER
NORTHEAST HALIFAX COUNTY NEAR ROANOKE RAPIDS. THIS STORM HAS BEEN
DRIFTING SOUTH SOUTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR. IT IS LIKELY TO
AFFECT THE TOWNS AND CITIES OF WELDON...HALIFAX...AND TILLERY...AND
SURROUNDING AREAS OF THE ROANOKE RIVER BASIN.
 
 
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.

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.