Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 13, NWS Wilmington, NC
NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at May 7, 1998, 11:30 PM EDT for New Hanover County, North Carolina. It was in force for 35 min. 2 reports 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
- May 7, 1998, 11:30 PM EDT (03:30 UTC)
- Expired
- May 8, 1998, 12:05 AM EDT
- In force
- 35 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wilmington, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County New Hanover County, NC
The radar
The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 11:40 PM EDT | Hail 2 | Murraysville, NC | Damage to home reported. |
| May 7, 11:48 PM EDT | Tornado F1 | Wilmington, NC | Tornado touchdown in Gordon Woods Subdivision downed trees and damaged homes. Spotty path of downed trees crossed U.S. 17 at Alexander Rd ended before reaching Porters Neck Subdivision. |
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 00:00Z, 3.5 hours before the alert went out and 112 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
- 60 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -162 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1139 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 138 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 207 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KILM 080330 RRA
TORILM
NCC129-080405-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
1130 PM EDT THU MAY 7 1998
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A...
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
NEW HANOVER COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
* UNTIL 1205 AM EDT
* AT 1129 PM EDT... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO IN
THE VICINITY OF WILMINGTON MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.
* THE TORNADO WILL BE IN THE VICINITY OF...
CASTLE HAYNE BY 1130 PM EDT
MURRAYSVILLE BY 1135 PM EDT
WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH BY 1135 PM EDT
OGDEN BY 1140 PM EDT
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.
IRELANDThe office that day
Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 11:13 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | New Hanover | 32 min |
| May 7, 11:53 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Pender | 32 min |
| May 8, 12:03 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Brunswick | 47 min |
| May 8, 12:19 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | New Hanover | 46 min |
| May 8, 3:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Bladen | 45 min |
| May 8, 7:41 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Columbus, Pender | 34 min |
| May 8, 7:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Pender | 51 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.