Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Wilmington, NC

April 3, 1998Bladen County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Apr 3, 1998, 11:07 PM EST for Bladen County, North Carolina. It was in force for 33 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
Apr 3, 1998, 11:07 PM EST (04:07 UTC)
Expired
Apr 3, 1998, 11:40 PM EST
In force
33 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 04:06 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
Apr 3, 11:15 PM ESTHail 0.75White Oak, NCHail covered the ground

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 3, 10:00 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 00:00Z, 4.1 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Newport, NC at 00:00Z on 1998-04-04Temperature 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 00:00Z on 1998-04-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 61 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
786 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
61 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
254 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.

438 
WFUS1 KILM 040408 RRA
TORILM
NCC017-040440-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
1107 PM EST FRI APR 3 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A...

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  NORTHERN BLADEN COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 1140 PM EST

* AT 1106 PM EST... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 26
  MILES EAST OF LUMBERTON OR 12 MILES WEST OF SMITH CROSSROADS
  MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE IN THE VICINITY OF...
        SMITH CROSSROADS        BY 1105 PM EST


IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...GO TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR OF A BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...LAY
DOWN IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

IRELAND

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 3, 11:28 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMPender32 min
Apr 4, 12:21 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMRobeson34 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.