Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 16, NWS Wilmington, NC
NWS Wilmington, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 1998, 9:09 PM EST for Bladen County, North Carolina. It was in force for 41 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
- Mar 20, 1998, 9:09 PM EST (02:09 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 20, 1998, 9:50 PM EST
- In force
- 41 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wilmington, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Bladen County, NC
The radar
The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:12 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 9:12 PM EST | Hail 0.75 | Bladenboro, NC | SPOTTER ALSO REPORTED INTENSE LIGHTNING. |
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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 7:00 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 155 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 534 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -60 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 572 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 61 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 173 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 281 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.5
- Supercell composite
- 4.1
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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.
NWS Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Mar 20, 9:00 PM EST, 9 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 9:00 PM EST, 9 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC 900 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998 WNDS OVR WTRS E AND SE 15 TO 25 KTS ATTM. RCNT RDR TRNDS INDICATING ACTVTY TO OUR W DSSPTNG AS IT CREEPS SLOWLY EWRD AND ACTVTY OVR WTRS DSSPTG AS IT CREEPS SLOWLY WWRD. WL TK PCPN OUT OF CSTL. HWVR STL XPCT CHC IN SRN WTRS. DONT EVEN XPCT ANY PCPN IN ANY OF MY CWA WI XCPTN OF WRN CTYS...XPCLLY DUPLIN CTY. GRAD WKNG OVR WTRS. STGST WNDS OVR NRN WT,RS AND ARE APPCHG SCA CRIT. WI FROPA XPCTD OVR WTRS LTR TNGT WNDS CUD GUSTY TO ABV SCA OVR ALL OF WTRS. THRFR WL XTND SCA TO INCLD NRN WTRS ALSO. OTHRWS NO CHGS XPCTD. .MHX...SCA CSTL WTRS TNGT
In the hours before
Local storm report, Mar 20, 7:09 PM EST, 2 hours before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA
709 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0705 PM TIMMONSVILLE SC .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 FLORENCE REPORTED BY POLICELocal storm report, Mar 20, 7:21 PM EST, 1 hour 48 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA
721 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0710 PM SOCIETY HILL SC 1.75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 DARLINGTON
0715 PM HARTSVILLE SC 1 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 DARLINGTON
0715 PM FLORENCE SC 1 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 FLORENCELocal storm report, Mar 20, 7:44 PM EST, 1 hour 25 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA
744 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0740 PM WALLACE SC .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 MARLBORO SKYWARN REPORTS OF HAIL AT
WALLACE THROUGH 15 MILES
EASTLocal storm report, Mar 20, 7:57 PM EST, 1 hour 12 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA
757 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0753 PM OAK GROVE SC .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 DILLON 911 CENTER REPORTED HAIL
AND STRONG WINDLocal storm report, Mar 20, 8:42 PM EST, 27 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA
842 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0825 PM PEEDEE SC .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 MARIONLocal storm report, Mar 20, 8:50 PM EST, 19 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA
850 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0845 PM FAIRMONT NC 1 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 ROBESON SPOTTER REPORTED STRONG
WIND WITH HAIL...SEEKING
SHELTERThe office that day
Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 8:17 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Robeson | 43 min |
| Mar 20, 8:30 PM EST | Tornado Warning | ILM | Robeson | 35 min |
| Mar 20, 9:07 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Bladen, Columbus | 43 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998
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.