Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

May 23, 1998Craven County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at May 23, 1998, 1:28 PM EDT for Craven County, North Carolina. It was in force for 32 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
May 23, 1998, 1:28 PM EDT (17:28 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 1998, 2:00 PM EDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Craven County, NC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:21 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
May 23, 1:30 PM EDTThunderstorm WindHavelock, NCTrees down on houses.

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
May 23, 11:00 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 42 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 1998-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 52 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 1998-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 56 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
52 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-108 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
761 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
56 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KMHX 231727 RRA
TORMHX
NCC049-231800-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
128 PM EDT SAT MAY 23 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN CRAVEN COUNTY

* UNTIL 200 PM EDT

* AT 125 PM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 3 MILES WEST OF RIVERDALE... MOVING MOVING SOUTHEAST AT
  40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BED NEAR...
  HAVELOCK AT 135 PM


IF YOU ARE IN THESE AREAS... TAKE COVER IN A STRONG BUILDING IN A
SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR AWAY FROM WINDOWS. ABANDON
CARS AND MOBILE HOMES.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 12:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXDuplin32 min
May 23, 12:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXGreene, Lenoir, Pitt35 min
May 23, 12:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXCraven, Jones, Onslow50 min
May 23, 12:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXBeaufort50 min
May 23, 1:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXPamlico35 min
May 23, 1:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXCarteret35 min
May 23, 1:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXCarteret35 min
May 23, 1:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXHyde35 min
May 23, 2:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXDare, Hyde35 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.