Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 168

April 21, 199731 counties in North Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 21, 1997, 4:15 PM EDT for 31 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 21, 1997, 4:15 PM EDT (20:15 UTC)
Expired
Apr 21, 1997, 10:00 PM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 31 counties

Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Carteret County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Craven County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Gates County, NC, Greene County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Jones County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pender County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC

Warnings issued inside it

15 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 21, 4:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXPitt38 min
Apr 21, 4:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXJones, Onslow26 min
Apr 21, 4:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWayne31 min
Apr 21, 5:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHSampson27 min
Apr 21, 5:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXBeaufort33 min
Apr 21, 5:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXJones, Onslow44 min
Apr 21, 5:22 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXOnslow38 min
Apr 21, 5:38 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXJones37 min
Apr 21, 5:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBladen, Robeson48 min
Apr 21, 5:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMPender48 min
Apr 21, 6:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXCraven38 min
Apr 21, 6:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMRobeson49 min
Apr 21, 7:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXCraven50 min
Apr 21, 7:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXDuplin39 min
Apr 21, 8:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWayne27 min

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 97 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 1997-04-21Temperature 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 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 1997-04-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 32 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
1181 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 21, 3:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCherokee, Clay, Graham, Macon, Swain6 hr
Apr 21, 7:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCherokee, Graham5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 1997Every tornado watch 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.