Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 706

August 20, 199755 counties in North Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Aug 20, 1997, 2:45 PM EDT for 55 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Aug 20, 1997, 2:45 PM EDT (18:45 UTC)
Expired: Aug 20, 1997, 8:00 PM EDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 55 counties

Alamance County, NC, Anson County, NC, Beaufort County, NC, Bertie County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Camden County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Chowan County, NC, Craven County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Currituck County, NC, Dare County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Davie County, NC, Durham County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Gates County, NC, Granville County, NC, Greene County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hertford County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Hyde County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Lee County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Martin County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Nash County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Orange County, NC, Pamlico County, NC, Pasquotank County, NC, Perquimans County, NC, Person County, NC, Pitt County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Tyrrell County, NC, Union County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Washington County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Yadkin County, NC

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 20, 3:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Franklin	34 min
Aug 20, 4:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Chatham, Wake	38 min
Aug 20, 7:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Greene	28 min
Aug 20, 7:39 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Pitt	51 min

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 113 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 484 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 525 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 0 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 0 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 0 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.

626 
WWUS9 KMKC 201822
SEL6  
MKC WW 201822
NCZ000-210000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 706
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
222 PM EDT WED AUG 20 1997

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA                     
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 245 PM UNTIL
800 PM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 3/4 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 50 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF
A LINE FROM 55 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GREENSBORO NORTH CAROLINA TO 35
MILES SOUTHEAST OF ELIZABETH CITY NORTH CAROLINA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 705...

DISCUSSION...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED ALONG THE LOW
LEVEL BOUNDARY OVER NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA...WITH OTHER CELLS
DEVELOPING INTO CENTRAL PARTS OF THE STATE.  AIR MASS OVER THE AREA
IS MODERATELY UNSTABLE WITH CAPE VALUES TO 3000 J/KG.  VAD WIND
PROFILES EXHIBIT MODERATE SPEEDS WITH STRONG VEERING IN THE LOW TO
MID LEVELS SUGGESTING POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS INCLUDING
ISOLATED SUPERCELLS.  


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 3/4 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500.  MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25035.


...WEISS

361,0804 363,0754 351,0753 344,0803

Nearby

Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 1997 Every 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.